It’s been a polarizing first 20 games of the Denver Nuggets season.

After a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, the Nuggets are 11-9 through the first quarter of the 2024-25 NBA season. It’s a slower pace than fans are accustomed to, despite Nikola Jokic playing excellent basketball at unprecedented levels. The Nuggets can’t seem to survive without him, and the only way they can is if they play the other four starters at the same time.

Are the Nuggets still good enough to win a championship? That’s the most important question at the end of the day.

On the latest episode of Pickaxe and Roll, Ryan Blackburn discusses the Denver Nuggets 126-114 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nikola Jokic had 27 points, 20 rebounds, and 11 assists, but because he only shot 50% from the field, the Nuggets lost. Jokic is being asked to do too much, and even though Michael Porter Jr. was very good and Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon were solid, it wasn’t enough. Ryan discusses the game, the differences between the Cavs and Nuggets, and where Calvin Booth fits in to this problem.

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.