Nikola Jokic gets brutally honest on 'bad' Nuggets following loss to Cavs
12/28/2024 06:10 PM
On Friday, the Denver Nuggets scored a whopping 135 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Normally, when teams score that much without going to overtime, they win. The Nuggets did not win, though, and ended up losing 149-135.
The Nuggets’ poor defense has been hindering them for most of the season. Not only are fans taking notice, but Nuggets players are as well. Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic did not sugarcoat his feelings after the recent loss.
“I think how we play, that we are in a good spot. I think we are not even close to where we’re supposed to be,” said Jokic. “I think how bad we’ve played, we’re in a good spot. I think we need to start thinking about what I can do for this team to help. Not what can team do to help me.”
There’s significant room for improvement by the Denver Nuggets
The season has been up and down for the Nuggets. They currently sit seventh in the Western Conference with a 16-13 record. While there are plenty of games still left in the season, the Nuggets know they need to get things turned around sooner rather than later.
Even during the rough patches, no one is pointing the finger at someone else. Everyone is shouldering the blame, including Christian Braun, who has gone a bit cold during the month of December.
“It's a mindset. I don't think we're there yet,” Braun said via The Denver Post. “The last few years — we've always been an offensive team, but we've brought it on defense. We've done a better job than we have this year. It's just a mindset thing. It's a physicality thing. It's, 'I'm going to be into the ball, and I'm not going to get screened.' And it starts with me, because I'm probably in the most of them. So I need to be better. We all need to be better.”
Jokic seems to be the only highly productive member of the Nuggets at the moment, and at times has been carrying his team to wins by himself. He is averaging 30.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 9.5 assists while shooting 57 percent from the field and 49.1 percent from three-point range.
The Nuggets will look to get back in the win column against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
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