The Denver Nuggets have started the season with plenty of things to be excited about. They are 2-0 on the year and it is their best start since the 2011-12 season. After wins against the Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns, there are plenty of things to be ecstatic about, but there are also some things that Denver has to worry about.

With that I give you the good, the bad and the ugly of Denver’s 119-91 win over the Suns.

The Good –Jokic dazzles against Phoenix

One of the things that has prevented Denver from going to the postseason the past couple of seasons has been their inability to defeat teams that they are supposed to lose be better than. Well, Nikola Jokic made sure that was not the case on Saturday against Phoenix when he became just the fourth player in NBA history to finish perfect from the field and still record a triple double. He ended the game with 35 points, 11 assists, and 12 rebounds to complete his first triple double on the season.

“He had one of those nights tonight,” Malone said. “He had a great game, but even more importantly we had a great win.”

Jokic was not shooting the ball much in the preseason, however he has started out the year aggressive. In his first two games Jokic is averaging 28.0 points a game as Denver has been making it a point to run the offense through him. The Nuggets offense flows better when he is attacking. When Jokic’s mindset is to go score each time down the door, he gives Denver a much better chance to win.

The Bad – Bench unit underwhelming

Denver’s second unit was the story of the preseason as they were essentially winning games for Denver as the starters seemed to have been going through the motions. But now that the season has started, Denver’s reserves have not been the same group that looked like they could stand out as one of the best bench units in the league.

The bench unit has looked out of sync and has been struggling; especially on the defensive end of the floor. In the Nuggets first game of the season they were a negative. Then they allowed Phoneix to cut a 17-point lead down to eight points in only four minutes played in the second quarter. Malone then put the starters back in the game and they controlled the game as Denver went into halftime with 65-49 lead.

With the bench unit underperforming, Malone decided to switch things up for the remainder of the game. Instead of going with a full five-man bench unit, he extended his rotation to 11 players with Torrey Craig tonight, but Malone also made sure to keep a starter or two in at all times to prevent Phoenix from going on big runs.

The bench unit has not been playing to the best of their ability and every one of them, besides Craig, finished with a negative plus/minus. If Denver feels as if they have a chance against the defending champion Golden State Warriors on Sunday on the second night of a back-to-back then Denver is going to need the second unit to play better on both ends of the floor.

The Ugly – Barton injury

In the middle of the third quarter against Phoenix, with Denver holding a comfortable lead, Will Barton went down with an apparent hip or groin injury. Barton was having a solid game of 14 points, four assists and five rebounds before going down. He was in extreme pain and did not return back to the game after being carted off the floor.

After the game, Malone said that there was no update on his injury and that he will have a MRI on Sunday morning. Barton was in the locker room after the game and he spoke to reporters.

“It is just real sore right now,” Barton said. “I will wait until tomorrow to see. I don’t even want to predict anything and get too high or too low. Once I find out, I will take it from there.”

It is highly unlikely that Barton will be back to play against the Warriors on Sunday. Until then, Malone said that he has high confidence in Craig coming in and filling the role if he has to.