The Denver Nuggets fell 109-104 to the Los Angeles Clippers in the second home loss of the season.
Nikola Jokic, for his part, had 41 points and shot 7-of-12 from the three-point line, setting a new regular season career high for threes made. He absolutely carried the Nuggets for much of this game and helped get the team unstuck from whatever mire they were facing in the first half.
Midway through the second quarter, the Nuggets appeared despondent and unresponsive on offense, struggling more than perhaps I’ve ever seen to score and shoot the basketball. The Nuggets had 24 points through the first 19 minutes of the game and went through a nearly five-minute stretch in the second quarter when they missed 11 straight shots and committed three turnovers.
A trio of threes in a row by Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic helped the team recover their mojo a bit though and helped the team stabilize. The Nuggets even led for significant portions of the third and fourth quarter. Unfortunately, Denver’s defense let go of the rope in the fourth quarter, allowing 39 points.
“Obviously, Norman Powell just kicked our ass in the 4th,” Michael Malone lamented postgame. “22 points.”
Powell finished with 37 points on the evening. The Nuggets had done a reasonable job containing him for much of the game, but breakdowns on the perimeter, poor closeouts from veterans, and just a hot shooting night ultimately hurt Denver.
Norman Powell responds with his SEVENTH 3…
He’s up to 35 PTS and we’re tied at 103! 🍿 pic.twitter.com/RduvBNsMPY
— NBA (@NBA) October 26, 2024
Michael Malone credited Christian Braun with a solid performance against Harden though. It’s clear he didn’t see Harden’s numbers as a condemnation of Braun’s defense, who has had two solid performances to open the season despite two losses for the team.
“I think CB’s play has definitely been a bright spot for us, but as we all know, for who we are, for where we’re at, there are no silver linings and moral victories,” Michael Malone declared. “We gotta get a win. and I just hope that this feeling of being 0-2 fuels us to be even more motivated and come out just really hungry and desperate and urgent and sustain that for as close to 48 minutes as possible. That’s our challenge right now.”
No Moral Victories when you’re winless
It was great to see the Nuggets fight back the way they did, and that should be the story of the game overall: Jokic put the team on his back and shot the lights out. That’s a great sign, and Jokic said postgame that he feels his three-point shooting could help the team at this moment. If Jokic is spacing the floor and hitting multiple threes a game, that would be a significant add to Denver’s spacing.
Ties his career high in three-point makes with this shot 🃏 https://t.co/qRbchxP4xi pic.twitter.com/JMp0Ol0pdc
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 26, 2024
The Nuggets needed a bit more from their supporting cast today. Michael Porter Jr. is mired in a slump, scoring 9 points on 4-of-13 from the field and 0-of-6 from three. His defense was pretty good today, but the decision making on the shots and drives is all out of whack. Aaron Gordon shot 3-of-10 today and was mostly a bystander on what the Nuggets were trying to do with the starting group. For the second straight game, Braun outplayed both starting forwards offensively with 11 points on 4-of-6 from the field to go with seven rebounds, a steal, and two blocks. He’s been solid. The fact that he’s outplaying Porter and Gordon isn’t good.
Then, there’s the bench unit. which was hilariously bad today.
Russell Westbrook scored two points on 0-of-8 from the field and 0-of-3 from three today. He was absolutely horrible for the second game in a row. Ditto for Dario Saric, who made some decent defensive plays today but couldn’t impact the offense in any positive way. Peyton Watson is still clearly working his way back into basketball shape and didn’t impact the game.
Westbrook’s first shot attempt in Game 1: Airball
Game 2: Airball again! pic.twitter.com/ItkIHaNpAo
— Oh Yes He Did (@OhYesHeDid24) October 26, 2024
For what it’s worth, Murray shared some optimism for the Nuggets moving in the right direction today. He said that this game was better than the last one, and he hopes the Nuggets keep making progress on their way to where they need to go.
“We took strides today. It’s not always going to go our way,” Murray shared. “I think guys that have been writing here long enough, have been here long enough, know what this team is capable of, so there shouldn’t be too much worry, too much doubt in us. Guys are playing and will keep figuring it out and get better.”
The Nuggets will take the show on the road for a three-game road trip in Toronto, Brooklyn, and Minnesota over the next week.
Who knows? Maybe the Nuggets just need to hit the club on the road to get their season back on track.
Ryan: “is there something you guys want to accomplish on this road trip over than just winning?”
Nikola Jokic: “party every time we go out.”
— Ryan Blackburn (@NBABlackburn) October 27, 2024
Final Rotations
