Once again the Denver Nuggets found themselves without their best player, Nikola Jokic, and once again they found themselves on the losing end of the scoreboard. It was an ugly four quarters against the Memphis Grizzlies with the Nuggets looking particularly rough on the offensive end. They end up mustering just 90 points on the evening with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. combining for only 23. Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies who got an all around game from their roster on their way to a rout. Nuggets lose big, 105-90

Early on Denver got a small lead playing through Murray but the offense wasn’t exactly clicking. Memphis had plenty of opportunities to take the lead but they weren’t shooting well so Denver stayed ahead. The Grizzlies brought in their bench twin towers of Zach Edey and Santi Aldama and they immediately combined for two blocks and a steal. The Nuggets kept pushing the pace and tightened up their defense to stop a Memphis run which kept the Grizzlies from overtaking them. The bench checked in to close out the quarter and they had mixed results as they struggled with Memphis’ length, particularly Edey. The Grizzlies started canning threes and took the lead. Russell Westbrook gave Denver a little life but at the end of the first they trailed 28-25.

It was physical to start the second and also sloppy. The Nuggets managed just one point in the first four minutes of the quarter while Memphis’ lead ran up to double digits. The Nuggets looked lackadaisical on defense in particular, giving up wide open shots and offensive rebounds. Porter finally got Denver’s first field goal at the seven and a half minute mark to trim the Grizzlies lead to thirteen. Denver got their starters back in and they built a little momentum to bring the deficit back down to ten. Dario Saric had a solid shift heading towards halftime while Denver chipped away at the lead slowly. Unfortunately, their offense stalled out in the final moments of the half and they hit the locker room trailing 55-43.

The offense didn’t get any prettier to start the second half. The Nuggets committed painful turnovers and the Memphis lead grew. When it hit twenty-two Michael Malone took a timeout and inserted Westbrook trying to breathe life into his team. It was actually Julian Strawther who started to get Denver something with back to back threes. They stopped the bleeding through the midway part of the quarter but still made little headway on Memphis’ big lead. The Nuggets bench + Murray group finally started playing solid defense, but still had a mental lapse here and there. Strawther was essentially their only offense and without any help Denver still stayed stuck trailing by around twenty points. That stayed the case in the final minutes of the quarter with the teams trading free throws. After three Denver trailed 84-64.

The Grizzlies bigs were knocking down threes to open the fourth, including former Nugget Jay Huff. Porter Jr. finally got some points after being silent virtually all night while the Nuggets put together a little run but the Grizzlies again had the answer. Porter and Westbrook kept the pressure on and pushed back but Denver was starting to run out of time. Halfway through the quarter they were still trailing by sixteen. The Nuggets kept mounting their comeback, they got it down to eleven with four minutes left with Murray getting some points. Denver had some wide open three point attempts they couldn’t convert and it started to look like Desmond Bane and the clock was going to be too much to overcome. The Nuggets couldn’t keep their offensive momentum going and finally relented. Malone emptied his bench in the final minutes and the Nuggets fall 105-90.

Denver couldn’t match the Grizzlies size

Memphis’ trio of seven footers were problematic for the Nuggets and Jackson had himself a fine game as well. Without Jokic the Nuggets played Saric and DeAndre Jordan at the five and they just weren’t enough. It was another frustrating game in terms of keeping the opponent off the offensive glass and out of the paint. Obviously getting Jokic (and Aaron Gordon) back will help greatly in this area but the past two games have highlighted just how much depth at the five is an issue for Denver. Unfortunately they can’t afford to be missing Nikola at all as not only is he the fulcrum of their offense, he’s also clearly their best defensive big.

Have to get more from Murray and Porter

Just not enough scoring from the half of Denver’s core four that was in the game. Both Murray and Porter looked far too passive for the first three quarters of the game and by the time either one of them got anything going the game was already well out of reach. Again, I get it, not having Jokic puts Denver at an extreme disadvantage but Murray and Porter are max contract players and neither one of them is getting those max contracts because of their defense. They’ve got to be more aggressive and creative with their offense sans Nikola, no other way about it.

It wasn’t all bad

Nov 17, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Dario Saric (9) drives to the basket as Memphis Grizzlies center Jay Huff (30) defends during the first half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The silver lining tonight in my mind was the reserves. Strawther was probably the best player on the floor and was the only scoring to speak of for lengthy stretches of the game. Another bright spot was the play of Saric who obviously didn’t replace Nikola but showed why the Nuggets were high on him as a bench big. You saw tonight how he can generate some points in an offense with that features a mix of Denver’s usual starters and key bench players and he finally started hitting some threes. Vlatko Cancar was also solid. He needs to clean up the fouls (something he’s always struggled with) but I liked his energy. There’s probably not a huge difference between him and Hunter Tyson right now but Vlatko is still shaking off the rust from the ankle injury so hopefully he gets more opportunities and makes the most of it.