There’s no beating around the bush. This was a bad loss for the Denver Nuggets.
The Chicago Bulls were on the second night of a back-to-back on Monday night, having went to overtime against the Utah Jazz the previous night and lost with their main players playing heavy minutes. It was a spot when the Bulls absolutely could’ve thrown in the towel and rested more players before they even played a single minute vs the Nuggets.
And yet, the Bulls ended up winning 130-127, a game that was as much about the Bulls rising to the occasion as the Nuggets failing to capitalize on the rest advantage they held.
It’s easy to be critical, and yes, the Nuggets deserve some criticism. They didn’t play defense all night, allowed the Bulls to score 50 points in the pain AND attempt over 50 three-pointers at the same time. The Nuggets didn’t disrupt anything the Bulls tried to do, and that’s obviously bad.
And yet, this happens to everybody. That it hadn’t happened to the Nuggets before tonight is a credit to the way they started the year.
Cam Johnson returned to the lineup tonight, and the Nuggets started Peyton Watson as their perimeter defense option in place of the injured Christian Braun. That didn’t really work, though it wasn’t Watson’s fault. Denver’s scheme discipline and level of effort on closeouts simply wasn’t good enough early on. The Nuggets gave up a lot of open threes throughout the game, and the Bulls ran hot early to jump out to an 18-point lead early in the second quarter.
“Tonight was just an uphill battle the entire time,” David Adelman declared of Denver’s approach. “We put ourselves in that situation, and that happens in the NBA.”
The Nuggets spent the rest of the half coming back from that deficit, and they did a nice job. Johnson got going as a three-point shooter to hit some big shots in the moment. Nikola Jokic, after a poor first quarter, nearly accumulated a triple-double through his work in the second quarter. Aaron Gordon was very good throughout, playing bully ball at the rim against a smaller Bulls forward group.
Denver did enough to take the lead at halftime. Did that spring them onto success going forward? Nope. They reverted back to their first quarter woes and never fully recovered after that. They had chances to win in the fourth quarter thanks to a scoring outburst from Jamal Murray, who scored a lot of points in a row and finished with 34 efficient points on the game.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. A bad Murray turnover cut off Denver’s late game momentum, and a late Nikola Vucevic three-pointer (one he had missed all night) finally dropped to make Denver’s deficit insurmountable. Nikola Jokic had a late three-pointer to tie, but he wasn’t close.
So, why was Denver’s defense so bad? Especially against three-pointers?
“I think it’s a little bit of everything,” Nikola Jokic shared postgame. “We tried to cross-match, we tried me being in drop, we tried to rotate early, we tried going back to the shooter. So it was a little bit of everything.”
“They had a really good shooting night…but it seemed like we were always a step late in communication, close outs, reactions.”
On a night when Jokic had 36 points, 18 rebounds, and 13 assists, it’s fair to still be critical of the execution of the game plan tonight. Denver didn’t do a good enough job helping Jokic defensively, and Jokic didn’t do a good enough job helping himself either. The stats don’t necessarily reflect that, though they do showcase how even when Jokic isn’t perfect, he’s still an absolute monster and gave the Nuggets a chance to win anyway.
It’s important to note: what the Nuggets accomplished to start the season from a defensive perspective has been a bit of smoke and mirrors. The low three-point percentage the Nuggets allowed through the first 12 games was a bit lucky. Last night, they got unlucky, and the Bulls made them pay whenever the Nuggets dared tired shooters to keep making shots. They certainly obliged.
But even with all of the defensive issues, the Nuggets still had a chance at the end. For whatever reason the Nuggets have struggled in clutch time to start this year, going 0-3 (their only three losses) in what are classified as “clutch” games. They know they let it slip.
“I had a big turnover late. I think that was the key to the loss honestly,” Jamal Murray opined. “We can talk about everything leading up to it, but when it comes down to it, it was a big possession.”
“We’ll learn from all three situations going forward. It’s good tape to watch, to learn from as a team,” Adelman shared at the end of his press conference tonight. “I have major belief in this group in the clutch. We’ll have more of these games and we’ll learn as we go.”
The Nuggets slipped up tonight. It was their first real miscue on the season. Losses were always going to happen, but this one shouldn’t have happened the way it did. Denver’s approach wasn’t great, and they got got. How they respond is infinitely more important than this one loss though. It’s losses like these that can keep Denver motivated to play the right way.
Let’s see if it works.
