“We’ve got to be better”: The reality of the Nuggets’ slow start is beginning to set in

The Nuggets held the Mavs to 4-21 shooting from three over the first two quarters of Thursday’s matchup. Denver allowed just 43 first-half points and forced Dallas into nine first-half turnovers. A herculean effort and game-tying buzzer-beater from Nikola Jokic at the end of regulation nearly led the Nuggets to their first signature victory of the season.

None of those positives mattered to the players inside Denver’s locker room.

“I don’t think we’re into moral victories right now,” Gary Harris said following the Nuggets’ overtime loss.

From Harris, Jokic and Jamal Murray’s postgame comments, the Nuggets took this loss especially hard. Whether it was the opponent, the swings that took place throughout a second half where the Nuggets gave away a 12-point third-quarter lead, or simply the fact that early-season losses are continuing to pile up, it felt like this defeat hurt more than Denver’s previous four losses this season. There were no silver linings Thursday night at Ball Arena.

Back on Christmas Day when Denver dropped to 0-2 on the season, Murray said the Nuggets “are not panicked.” That night, Monte Morris echoed Murray’s comments and insisted that Denver will “be alright.” Make no mistake, I don’t think the Nuggets are panicking by any means after dropping to 3-5. They shouldn’t be. It’s a long regular season and while a loss is a loss, this wasn’t a step back for Denver.

But there weren’t any reassurances made late Thursday night either. Perhaps the realities of a 3-5 start ahead of a daunting three-game East Coast swing that has the Nuggets scheduled to take on the 76ers, Knicks and Nets over the next four days has set in. Perhaps it’s starting to hit Denver that it has to get this thing figured out quickly.

“We’ve got to be better,” Harris said. “We’ve got to get ready for this road trip.”

Here’s a sobering look at the state of the Nuggets. Denver has three wins on the season and none of those three can be characterized as good. Two wins came against the Karl-Anthony Towns-less Timberwolves, who are on a six-game losing streak and have been by far the worst team in the league since losing their starting center. The Nuggets’ other win came over the Rockets, who were without John Wall, Eric Gordon and DeMarcus Cousins and only had nine available bodides. Three of Denver’s losses — to the Clippers, Suns and Mavs — are fine. The Nuggets’ two losses to the Kings are not.

In a loaded Western Conference, the Nuggets have had the NBA’s easiest schedule to date, according to Basketball Reference, and don’t have a ton to show for it. Across eight games, Denver still hasn’t been able to put together a full four-quarter effort.

“We have been all season long a two-quarter team, a three-quarter team,” Michael Malone said. “We have yet to be a four-quarter team. That is definitely biting us in the ass right now.”

The Nuggets had their chances Thursday. Denver was by far and away the better team in the first half and jogged into the locker room with 52-43 lead despite Jokic shooting just 3-12 from the field. Then, the Mavs found their rhythm and shot 12-20 from three in the second half and overtime as Denver’s defense started to break down. No break down was more costly than the one that allowed Maxi Kleber to slip three for a game-saving triple with 2.4 seconds left in regulation.

Jokic went on to hit a game-tying shot moments later to force overtime, but that botched switch haunted Denver into early Friday morning.

“It never should have gone to overtime,” Malone said. “We’re up one with seven seconds to go. We gave up a wide open three. All you need is one stop.”

Could Jokic have used more help against Dallas? Sure. The Mavs deployed a defensive scheme against Jokic that the Nuggets haven’t seen a lot of this season and defended Denver’s All-NBA center 1-on-1 for most of the night. Willie Cauley-Stein and Boban Marjanovic did an admirable job of guarding Jokic but couldn’t hold him down forever.

Despite battling foul trouble again, Jokic poured in 25 second-half points, 17 of which came in the fourth quarter. He picked up his fourth personal foul at the 10:29 mark of the third but stayed in the game, which turned out to be a shrewd decision from Malone. Jokic played 25 of the game’s final 28 minutes without being whistled for a foul.

“I was open. They didn’t come double-team,” Jokic said postgame regarding his career-high 31 shot attempts. “They were playing straight up 1-on-1, so I kind of had the opportunity. They played really good defense and I kind of missed a couple easy ones. They didn’t help that much.”

Jokic is 5-5 on game-tying or go-ahead shots inside the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime over the last two seasons. No one in the league has more makes in these types of clutch situations over that span.

Denver let go of the rope in overtime. A combination of hot Mavs shooting, poor Nuggets defense and dogged offense from Doncic prevailed. Doncic used his size and strength advantage over Gary Harris to pour in nine of Dallas’ 15 points over the extra five minutes. It was a stark reversal from the 5-12 shooting that the Nuggets held Doncic to in the first half.

“Luka’s a really good player you know. He’s just a tall guy who can pass really good passes,” Jokic said. “Even if we’re up he can just pass over us, especially to Boban or whoever big man who roles. And he can pass it late. He caught us off-guard. He’s kind of looking one way passing the other way. He’s a really good player. I think he got used to it I think on our coverage maybe.”

Jokic cited poor shot selection and a lack of execution as the key difference in overtime. When discussing how the Nuggets gave up their second-half lead, Murray mentioned missed opportunities, Jokic’s four missed free-throws across the fourth quarter and overtime, and fatigue.

“I think the fourth quarter, I had some really good looks that didn’t drop, that normally drop,” Murray said. “How many free throws did Joker miss? We had so many different opportunities. Everybody just could have been better. Guys were tired. I played 46 [minutes]. Joker played 41. Gary played 40. Thrill played 35. It’s a long game, it’s a tired game.”

“We’ve just got to be better and find ways to figure it out. We had the game. We had the game. We just didn’t close the way we should have, the way we normally do.”

Michael Porter Jr.’s offensive presence surely would have helped, but Denver will be without its starting small forward for at least the next 10 days. Porter was expected to end a league-mandated seven-day quarantine Wednesday night and be back in the lineup Thursday, but was held out due to “health and safety protocols.” Reports emerged during the first half of Thursday’s game that Porter’s quarantine will be an extended an additional 10-14 days. All the Nuggets can say officially, is that Porter is out due to “health and safety protocols.”

Porter had already missed Denver’s last four games and will be sidelined for an additional five or possibly six matchups. The Nuggets’ next six opponents are the 76ers, Knicks, Nets, Warriors, Jazz and Thunder. Denver will have to figure this thing out with the players it has.

“He’s not here right now. I’m not going to speak on that,” Malone said when asked about Porter postgame. “We have guys that are talented and have been in the league. They’ve got to step up and help us play. We’ll speak about Michael when he gets back to our team.”