David Adelman held out as long as he could before dropping the hammer. He’s danced carefully around forceful criticism of his players through the media, often eschewing the more impassioned aspects of leadership, or what he’s deemed the “rah rah” style of coaching.

Adelman didn’t get this job for his fiery speeches or emotional pleas — a hallmark of his predecessor, Michael Malone. But Adelman has the job, and like Malone before him, he’s finding it more difficult than he’d like to get the most out of his players.

The Denver Nuggets dropped another game in Ball Arena on Sunday afternoon, despite a hot start and a competitive second half. The wheels fell off, however, when Jokić took his first rest, and the Nuggets opened the second quarter without their best two players.

The Wolves opened on a 9-0 run, flipping the game on its head, and eventually dominating the quarter. After the loss, Adelman ripped into his second unit.

“I told them after the game that’s just inexcusable,” he said. “I thought we were very competitive throughout the night, but not during (those) 2 minutes. And that can lose you a game against a really good team…I have to find a unit that will actually do it, compete at a higher level, because to me that was the game.”

The Nuggets have shown lapses in effort and competitiveness throughout the season, and Adelman has chalked a lot of it up to untimely injuries — particularly their lack of physicality. Stretched so thin, they couldn’t bring it every night, he’s explained. But guys are back now, and he’s singing a different tune about expectations.

The second unit sank Denver’s hopes in consecutive big games. Cam Johnson typically leads that group, and that stagger has yielded positive results for most of the campaign. The new shotcaller prefers to keep Jokić and Murray together when he can. But the bench has come up woefully short now twice in a row, and Adelman is reconsidering his rotation.

“It’s not what I want to do,” he said of breaking up his dynamic duo. “I like them to play together. I don’t like when I’m taking minutes away from them not being on the court together, but if we have to do it, then we’ll do it, because this can’t happen. It’s happened two games in a row, and it’s cost us big time — quick. 12-0, 12-2, 11-2, 11-0, whatever it is, it can’t happen in this high level of a game.”

When Adelman first took the job, he articulated his vision for player-led accountability, urging the veteran core to use their voice in the locker room and hold each other to a high standard. Ideally, they could be their own adults, and he could focus on the more technical aspects of his job.

That’s still his preference, but he seems to be conceding ground on the position’s requirements.

“I take my shots when I feel it’s appropriate,” Adelman said. “But when you’re on an NBA team, guys have to lead, and they can’t just lead by example. They have to use their voice, and we’ve had that throughout the season. When you get to this part of the season, everybody’s tired. It’s just the way it is. So, I’ll keep, just keep reminding them of what the goals are here.”

While Adelman spoke harshly of the bench unit as a whole, he remained defensive of Cam Johnson, who has struggled in consecutive marquee matchups. He missed the potential game-winning shot against the Oklahoma City Thunder and finished with 0 points against the Wolves.

It’s been a rough few days for Johnson. He left the latest loss early to get an X-Ray on his right ankle, and his status for the trip to Utah is in question.

“He did not move well today,” Adelman said. “Obviously, Cam knows we’re out, a lot of people, at the wing position, so he fought through it, and I think it obviously affected his game. He had a hard time moving side to side. He’ll get checked on now, before we head to Utah…but you know, Cams are starting small forward. I trust him. tonight his body just wasn’t there.”

Neither was his confidence.

Johnson looked despondent by his locker on Sunday evening. One could practically feel his disappointment from across the room. Eventually, he spoke with reporters:

The head coach is striking a new tone. The starting small forward’s confidence is reeling. The non-Jokić minutes have reared their ugly head once again. Urgency is starting to permeate the locker room as the Nuggets find themselves in fifth place — a new low for the title hopefuls.

Their best player thinks they need the wake-up call.

“I think it’s a good thing to happen,” Jokić said of sliding all the way to fifth. “Then you’re going to start worrying. And you’re going to start to care probably more. I think the struggle is probably good, you know?”

While that reads optimistic, it was accompanied by less enthusiastic answers about the future. The Nuggets have yet to take off, and there’s little runway left. When asked if there’s still time to find the best version of themselves, Jokić kept it brief.

“Hopefully,” he said curtly.

The Nuggets are 5-8 since the beg fella returned to action. They just can’t pin down their preferred style of basketball without Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson. But there’s little time to waste, and right now they’re turning in mediocre results in a results-based business.

“We just need more from everybody,” Adelman said. “We talked about that in the locker room, and we’ll get our opportunity tomorrow.”