After the Denver Nuggets 139-120 win over the Atlanta Hawks, Michael Malone implored to the media postgame that winning with offense wasn’t good enough if the Nuggets want to go where they’re hoping to go in the playoffs this season.

Over the past two weeks, the Nuggets rank second in the NBA in offensive rating and 27th in defensive rating. Denver’s offense has been truly great in this recent stretch, but the defense is clearly holding the Nuggets back from being a great team as well.

The coaches know it, the players know it, and now the fans know it too. The Nuggets need to be better on the less glamorous end of the floor. Can they do it? Are they willing and able to do it? Time will tell.

On the latest episode of Pickaxe and Roll, Ryan Blackburn brings in the New Year with a recap of the Denver Nuggets 139-120 win over the Atlanta Hawks. Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook continue to find chemistry. Maybe the Nuggets could find some defense at some point soon?

Ryan breaks down the game, discusses concern levels for the lacking defense, and shares some Nuggets New Year’s Resolutions.

Pickaxe and Roll is a Nuggets podcast streamed live on YouTube every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at 10am MT. You can catch episodes live by subscribing to the Mile High Sports YouTube channel and turning on Bell Notifications.

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If you can’t catch Pickaxe and Roll live, listen to the audio version on the BLEAV Podcast Network, or download this podcast episode wherever you get podcasts.