In an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Denver Nuggets won 89-86 against league leader Golden State Warriors to win two straight games, and with this victory, they improved their record this season to 17-16, temporarily rising to fifth in the West.
But even with this game win, everything for the Denver Nuggets didn't go according to plan, and the team's current ranking is much lower than many predicted before the season, after all, the Nuggets have been one of the best teams in the NBA in recent years, they have a record of 47 wins and 25 losses last season, but the winning rate this season is less than 50%, which means that the Nuggets are actually worse this season than last season, which is not a good sign at all. What is it that has caused them not to live up to their potential, and what can they do to get back on track? In xiaobian's opinion, they have at least three problems to solve.
There is no substitute center
The Nuggets have the new MVP Nikola Jokic in the center position, so the center position is their strong point, there's no doubt about it, but if the Nuggets want to be a real championship-contending team, Jokic will need some help. But one of the Nuggets' biggest problems now is that no one can replace Jokic, and when he doesn't play well, the team's overall performance is not much better.
Taking the game on December 24 as an example, Jokic's personal performance was abnormal, shooting only 13 of 34 shots and hitting iron 21 times, and the team's performance immediately took a sharp turn. So while Jokic ended up with 29 points, 21 rebounds and five assists, the Nuggets buried a 19-point lead. Ironically, even though Jokic's feel is so bad, he is still the only player on the team with a positive plus-minus value, and few teams rely so much on a player, but this is exactly the current situation of the Nuggets and Jokic. So if Nuggets management struggles to find reliable replacements for their star players, they will certainly be in a better position.
The injuries were serious
I know the Nuggets are missing one of their most important players, Jamal Murray, who has been absent since an injury to a torn front cruciate ligament, and his absence has had a huge impact on the Nuggets. Not only is Murray a great scorer, but he also helps the team open up the offensive space and relieve Jokic of the pressure on the inside offensive line.
But Murray's injury isn't the only reason bothering the Nuggets, as they're missing several other major rotation players, and their injury lists are long, with Aaron Gordon and Pol Ball currently in a state that has been adjusted to be questionable to play, and Monte Morris has also been put on the roster with a sore left knee. In addition, P.J. Dozer, Michael Potter Jr. and Marcus Howard are still injured, not to mention players who have been quarantined because of the league's epidemic prevention and safety regulations. It's hard for a team to function efficiently without losing so many people, and that would undoubtedly exacerbate the Nuggets' tragedy.
The defense was too poor
With players like Jokic and Gordon, it's easy to think of the Nuggets as one of the best defensive teams in the league, but that's not the case. The team's total rebounds ranked third to last in the league, offensive rebounds to the bottom, and blocks to the bottom, which shows that they are not doing well in the basket and blocks, and if a team lets so many rebounds slip away from their fingers, they can't win the game. Let's take the nuggets' loss to the Hornets a few days ago as an example, they buried a 19-point lead, which shows that they lack passion and they have no motivation to protect the basket at all, except that the offense dragged their hind legs.