The Nuggets are staring their own mortality in the face.
They have lost four games in a row for the first time this season, and at the worst time, after a 125-120 defeat to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
With Jamal Murray out for the fifth consecutive game and Michael Porter Jr. struggling to cash his 3-point shot, Nikola Jokic did everything within his power to give Denver a chance: 41 points, 15 rebounds, 13 assists and two steals. Christian Braun added a career-high 30 points, leading a comeback effort from down 10 in the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t enough. Jokic overthrew Russell Westbrook into the backcourt for a turnover with 15.8 seconds remaining and Denver down by two. The Pacers made their free throws.
Now with three games to go, the Nuggets (47-32) possess only a half-game lead on eighth place in the Western Conference. The top six are guaranteed playoff spots.
Jokic entered Sunday needing 28 total assists in the last four games — if he plays all four — to average a triple-double this season. That’s an average of seven per game, a quota that he had reached by halftime.
The reigning MVP scored or assisted on 12 of Denver’s 15 made field goals in the first quarter, tallying 21 of his points. He finished the frame by snatching a defensive rebound, attempting a full-court heave (short) then jogging directly off the court for a bathroom break. Business as usual.
Denver was up by nine when he left and nine when he returned, thanks in part to bench contributions from Russell Westbrook and Julian Strawther. Westbrook, coming off one of his worst games of the season, ingratiated himself to the fans of Ball Arena by diving after a loose ball and into the second row of court-side seats. The child he collided with took it like a champ. Westbrook seemed OK, too, receiving a hearty round of applause while John Williams’ “Superman” score played over the arena speakers.
Strawther scored six points in his first rotation minutes since March 2, when he sprained his knee in Boston.
“It’s hard when you miss over a month of action and you’re coming back. … He’s a guy that prior to getting hurt, coming off the bench, was a real key piece for us,” Malone said. “And that’s our reality. If you look at bench scoring, seems like every night, we’re just losing that battle by a large amount. And hopefully Julian’s a guy that can give us a spark offensively. Be a guy that we can run plays for, make 3s, get downhill, initiate, make plays for his teammates.”
The Nuggets shot 26 of 31 inside the arc during the first half, but their defense and outside shooting refused to allow them separation on the scoreboard. Jokic was their only player to make a 3-pointer until Christian Braun at the 8:33 mark of the third quarter.
Braun gained traction throughout the night, hammering home a pair of noisy dunks and getting downhill at key moments. But on the defensive end, neither he nor his teammates could muster a timely stop until their backs were to the wall. Rotations around the perimeter continued to be lackluster. Obi Toppin and Myles Turner knocked down shots that Denver couldn’t buy. Tyrese Haliburton was limited as a scorer but went for 13 assists. The Pacers took a 98-97 lead into the fourth. They stretched it to seven by the time Jokic came back this time.
When Denver’s defense had once again been risen as a topic during Malone’s pregame news conference, he had answered with a quip to sum up the whole season.
“It’s been on a milk carton,” he said. “That’s where it’s been.”
