Do battered, beaten down Nuggets have reason to worry?

Eight nuggets for Denver’s eight-man rotation in a 106-98 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.

1. At this rate, the Nuggets are going to hold open tryouts Monday morning to fill out the back end of their rotation. First, Gary Harris went down with a hip injury in Toronto that reportedly could sideline him for three to four weeks. Then Paul Millsap fractured his big toe after taking a nasty spill in Charlotte. On Saturday, Jamal Murray hobbled through the second half of Denver’s ugly loss to Atlanta after Justin Anderson kicked him.

Worn down and severely depleted, the Nuggets ran out of gas against the lowly Hawks. They were outscored 55-42 in the second half as their five-game road trip that started out so promising ended in a thud. Denver finished 3-2 on this west-to-east jaunt — not bad! — but losing two starters for an extended period of time put a damper on things.

2. Only eight Nuggets players got in the game versus Atlanta. That’s a short rotation under any circumstance but especially when a team is on the second night of a back-to-back and the final leg of an extended road trip. To be fair, Michael Malone didn’t have many options. Malone inserted Trey Lyles into Millsap’s spot at starting power forward, which left him with three bench regulars: Monte Morris, Malik Beasley and Mason Plumlee.

The Nuggets, who shot 15 of 51 (29.4 percent) in the second half, looked lifeless. Unless they pick a player up or Malone suddenly grows comfortable giving rotation minutes to Tyler Lydon or DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, they’re going to have to get by like this for a while.

“Paul’s not coming back tomorrow. Gary’s not coming back tomorrow. Will’s not coming back tomorrow,” Malone said. “Forget who’s out. If you can play, play the game the right way. Play with effort. We didn’t do that tonight.”

3. The third quarter was a disaster. The Nuggets committed five turnovers and got cooked to well done on defense, allowing eight Atlanta 3s. Almost everything went wrong, but Denver still had a chance to get out of the quarter with a stop and score. Lyles hauled in Vince Carter’s miss, turned and immediately coughed up the basketball. The Hawks turned the strip into two points.

Losing the ball in traffic has been a persistent issue this season for Lyles, who’s averaging 3.5 turnovers per 100 possessions — the third-most on the team. Overall, Lyles (nine points on 2-of-13 shooting) did a poor job of filling in for Millsap.

Lyles played so well in Millsap’s 44-game absence last season, but he hasn’t built on that in 2018-19. He’s shooting 27.1 percent from 3-point territory, the ninth-worst mark in the NBA among players who attempt at least three per game. The Nuggets need more from him — especially with a tough four-game homestand looming.

4. Lyles struggled, and so did Murray. Denver’s starting point guard made 2 of 9 shots and turned it over twice. He was clearly not 100 percent after Anderson kicked him in the second quarter. But was his lackluster performance due at all to red lining? Murray played 36 minutes in Portland, 41 in Toronto, 46 in Orlando and 37 in Charlotte. That’s a lot of minutes, even for an ironman like him. An off day Sunday could do him a lot of good.

5. There wasn’t much good that came from Saturday’s defeat. “This was one of our worst performances of the year,” Malone said. “We had a lot of guys with bad nights.” Perhaps the only Nugget who didn’t play poorly was Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets repeatedly dumped the ball to him in the post, and he responded with 24 points, 15 of which came in the first quarter.

Jokic is at his most dangerous when he’s making plays out of the high post. But on the rare nights when Denver can’t establish a rhythm, he’s still effective at getting tough buckets down low.

6. Jokic also contributed 11 rebounds and seven assists. From a passing standpoint, he was incredible during this five-game road trip. This behind-the-back look to Lyles was pretty average compared to some of the other stuff he pulled from his bag of tricks in Toronto and Orlando.

Jokic has had seven double-digit assists games this season. The only other centers to accomplish that feat? Joel Embiid and Nikola Vucevic, both of whom have pulled it off once.

7. John Collins was trying to hurt the rim. Every time the 21-year-old attacked, he seemed to throw down a ferocious dunk.

Collins went for 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting, grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists. He’s been excellent for Atlanta this season. He looks like a keeper.

8. How quickly things change in the NBA. The Nuggets were flying high after beating the Raptors on their turf Monday. Five days later, they’re reeling after two straight losses and an injury list that only grew longer. They’re still in a solid spot at 17-9, but the rest of December gets tricky. They face the Grizzlies, Thunder, Raptors, Mavericks and Clippers in their next five games. A major slip up during this stretch could cost them in the uber competitive West.