The Denver Nuggets dropped their third game in a row, this time losing to the New York Knicks 122-112. Nikola Jokic got called for two fouls in the first two minutes of the game and coach Michael Malone sat him for 15 straight minutes until the 7 minute mark of the second quarter, then played him the whole second half. Jokic was out-of-sorts and shot just 6-of-15 for 17 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in a mostly passive game. Jamal Murray picked up the slack offensively, scoring 33 points to go with 5 rebounds and 6 assists of his own, but most of the offense was Murray calling his own number.
Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 14 rebounds but the Nuggets could not contain the Knicks even though Denver dominated the boards 47 to 35. Denver took a lead in the third quarter but then New York imposed themselves on the game and never looked back. Jalen Brunson had 30 points and 15 assists for the Knicks while OG Anunoby added 23, but the Knicks knew who they were trying to be and it never felt like the Nuggets did. Denver heads to Philadelphia on Friday for the first half of a back-to-back, but they have some crucial issues to iron out on this road trip and look nowhere near doing so at this point.
Game Flow
Nikola Jokic opened the scoring with a nice cut to the basket for a finish. Josh Hart made one of two free throws, Jamal Murray hit a nice 10 foot stepback, and Jokic got called for two fouls on one possession and had to come out with just over two minutes gone. Jamal’s pullup was matched by an OG Anunoby drive and Mikal Bridges made a corner three for New York. MPJ missed a 3 and got dunked on by OG, who then ran out again for his second dunk to force a timeout as New York went on a 9-0 run to lead 12-6. Jalen Brunson made a three, Russell Westbrook missed both a corner three and a layup, Murray’s turnover led to a traditional 3-point play by Brunson to make it 18-6 Knicks. Aaron Gordon finally ends the run with an oop finish from Russ, but OG dunked again on the other end. Murray missed another shot, Brunson hit another layup, and Westbrook’s layup was one of the few early bright spots. AG and Murray both had turnovers that didn’t hurt them on the other end, then Gordon made a tough paint finish. Braun drove the rim and got foul shots, Murray turned it over again, and Precious Achiuwa hit a floater to put New York back up by 8. Murray and Julian Strawther both had blocks and Strawther’s missed 3 was put back in by Christian Braun. Cam Payne answered with a 3, Peyton Watson banked in a stepback over Kat, Towns came back with free throws, and Murray made a hook shot. Precious dunked for New York, Murray answered with a last second three – Denver’s first make from deep in six attempts – and despite having to play nearly 10 minutes of the quarter without Jokic stayed in touch down just 4 at 31-27.
Towns and Braun exchanged jumpers, and then Malone challenged an out-of-bounds early in the second quarter. Strawther hit a floater after a nice contest on the other end to get Denver within 2, but Deuce McBride answered in the paint. DeAndre Jordan dunked over Towns, but Towns pulled his third foul and had to sit himself. The Knicks hit a pair of threes to make it 43-37 as Michael Malone refused to put Jokic back in until nearly the 7 minute mark despite KAT having to sit. AG came back in as well and hit a free-throw-line pull up, and Jokic backed down Precious and hit his own turnaround. Brunson and Josh Hart both hit paint shots for NY, Russ and Precious exchanged finishes, and Jokic threw an out of bounds pass the length of the court to assist a Russ bucket. The Nuggets did not do a good job of getting the ball to Jokic despite his obvious mismatches against every Knick on the court. Gordon answered Brunson free throws with 2 of his own, Murray missed a 3 but MPJ made one. Westbrook blocked Brunson, the teams exchanged turnovers, and then another Westbrook turnover turned into an OG three. Mike passed up a pass to Jokic for a shot and the Knicks ran out on the miss for a finish the other way. Jamal made a shot, Porter missed another 3, and Jokic missed a half court shot at the buzz. He had just 4 first half points and 2 assists but Denver trailed by only 6 at 60-54 despite that.
Russ opened the scoring in the third quarter with a great drive, Jokic had a block and then a great leave for a Murray one-handed drive in the two-man game to first and force a quick Knicks timeout. MPJ forced a miss on defense and then tipped in a Murray miss on offense to tie it up, but Brunson answered with a 3. Jokic missed a finish but Denver’s defense stood up and Porter got to the line on the other end. Jamal hit a transition three to give Denver the led at 65-63 for his 19th point, then hit a stepback the next time down. Denver hit the boards and Jokic passed to AG for a finish and cap a 9-0 run. Anunoby made a corner 3, answered by a Murray three over KAT. Denver ran on every rebound and Porter finished the next transition bucket. Brunson made a paint bucket, then Murray committed two fouls and a turnover in short order. MPJ had a nice block but a careless turnover and Hart had a transition finish to bring New York back within 3 at 74-71. Jokic played a very passive offensive game and the offense went cold without Murray on the floor for a couple of minutes, and KAT’s putback of a Precious miss gave the Knicks the lead back at 81-80. Westbrook then had a putback of his own, but Jokic threw a pass that neither Russ nor Porter wanted to go get and it turned into a Brunson 3 instead. Jokic got to the line with a more aggressive approach, Braun missed a finish and Murray bricked a stepback. Brunson got his 30th point in the final minute, Murray missed a drive, and Bridges made a three to give New York the 93-86 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Jokic came back out to start the fourth and missed a 3, but Jamal Murray got a loose ball and turned it into a transition 3 from Strawther. Jokic finished a Murray assist, but McBride hit a jumper and a three to give the Knicks back their 7 point lead. Jokic bricked another 3, Payne hit a floater the other way, and Anunoby hit a 3 for a double digit lead. Jokic made a 3 back, Braun finished a tough paint floater, but Watson committed a charge after a couple of tough Denver misses. Bridges and Jokic exchanged threes again, and AG made one to close the gap to 108-104 Knicks. AG finished a Westbrook feed, Hart had a layup the other way, and MPJ missed another shot from deep. Russ had a shot blocked, Bridges and Hart made layups, and the Knicks pulled away down the stretch as unfortunately Denver’s challenge fell short on a weird night of basketball. Final score was 122-112.
Final Thoughts
– Extremely weird game, but definitely not a hopeful one. After two poor efforts in a row, the hope was that the Nuggets would show up in New York with something to prove. Instead they lost every quarter in a game where their rhythm was definitely thrown off – but where they also just couldn’t capitalize on their strengths. No one could feed Jokic even when he was in the game, and he looked frankly lethargic. Murray played hard and brought his scoring, but he was still outplayed by Brunson. MPJ couldn’t shoot (again) and did very little else correctly either. Denver did actually crash the boards for 41 non-Jokic rebounds, but had just 21 assists to New York’s 33. No one on Denver was able to make the game easier for their teammates, and the squad just had too many mistakes to overcome on both ends. Silly turnovers and terrible transition defense are a bad combination, and the Nuggets lost both the fast break and the paint points to the Knicks which can’t happen if they want to win.
– Where does Denver go from here? Games where Jokic goes to the bench two minutes into the contest can’t really be extrapolated for season-long implications, but if ever a team looks like it needs a change this one does. The Nuggets can’t seem to figure out who they want to be. They are a transition team that plays at a fast pace this year – they’re 5th in pace and 3rd in points per game while keeping their offensive rating 4th, a good result that doesn’t help their defense at all. They are 7th-worst in points per game allowed and 12th-worst in defensive rating. The Nuggets can’t put teams away, and they can’t turn the tide of a game and keep it in their favor. When Denver has it going offensively they can get enough stops to get by. They can be a truly great offensive team despite being last in the league in threes-attempted. But when they start making mistakes on offense – when teams can turn them over, or the few threes they take are not falling – they can’t fall back on defense. They can’t fall back on anything except feeding Nikola Jokic, and they were terrible at that tonight too. That won’t get any easier in the playoffs.
It feels like a trade should be inevitable to shake things up, but Denver has so few assets that are movable that it may not be possible to shake this roster up in season. When a team can’t change the talent normally they change out the coach, but the roster situation that Booth has created for himself with mismanaged assets and acquisitions (as well as some incredibly poor injury luck) makes it hard to judge which way the Nuggets are leaning. Do they believe they are contenders? They should be, but will need to strengthen the roster because the games when Mike is invisible – or worse, a detriment – create a massive problem that they have no one on the roster to solve. Denver can lean into offense, or into improved defense, but they have to lean into something, solidify some identity beyond “we have the best player in the world” because on nights like this it certainly is not enough.
