The Denver Nuggets’ defensive woes were on full display in their shocking 126-123 loss to the Washington Wizards on Saturday. The Nuggets fell to one of the league’s worst teams, prompting Nikola Jokic to assess his team’s inconsistency.
“I’m not surprised,” Jokic said bluntly in his post-game press conference. “Because this is what we do. Since I came here, probably. We win against the big teams and we lose against the teams with bad records.”
The loss dropped the Nuggets to 43-25, placing them in a three-way tie for third with the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets in the Western Conference standings.
Nuggets acknowledge that playoff success hinges on defensive improvement
Currently, the Nuggets have the best offensive rating in the Western Conference. But on the other end of the court, their defensive struggles continue to become more and more concerning. They’ve sunk to 22nd in defensive rating this season and rank 26th since the All-Star break.
While there are under 20 games remaining in the regular season, the Nuggets have their focus set on the playoffs. But with some of their recent poor performances, it’s left fans, and even some players, wondering how much they have in the tank for a successful playoff run.
“I think who you are in the regular season, that’s who you are in the playoffs,” said Jokic.”I think you cannot flip a switch. I think that doesn’t really exist.”
Nuggets coach Michael Malone reinforced Jokic’s concerns with a similar assessment of his own.
“If we’re going to be a team that is serious about making the postseason and being a team that can win a round, win another round, if we don’t start defending for four quarters, we’re never gonna get that opportunity,” said Malone.
The Nuggets currently rank among the worst teams in both points allowed in the paint (50.8 per game) and three-pointers conceded (14.1 per game).
“I feel like we’ve shown that we can guard, but it’s not consistent. It’s not for 48 minutes right now,” said Michael Porter Jr. “We’ve gotta figure out how we can put more complete games together and take something away — either take away the paint and give up more 3s or take away the 3s and give up the paint.”
The Nuggets’ offensive success has carried them to a solid position in the standings, but as the playoffs near, it’s looking less likely that just their offense alone can carry them. They will need to find a way to wake up on defense if they want to make a serious playoff run.
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