Takeaways: Nuggets fall to Spurs
By Mathew Huff
The Nuggets were not able to keep their perfect preseason record intact against the Spurs.
The Denver Nuggets dropped their first preseason game to the San Antonio Spurs. It was not pretty. Denver suddenly reverted back to the defense we saw from last season which was very porous and allowed the Spurs to shoot a very high 57% from the field.
More from Nugg Love
- Was trading Bones Hyland a mistake for the Denver Nuggets?
- Did Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets break Anthony Davis?
- Denver Nuggets stars face serious disrespect in recent NBA rankings poll
- What will it take for Denver Nuggets star to become ‘inevitable?’
- Denver Nuggets NBA Training Camp report, other preseason dates to know
This is completely unacceptable and if this is going to happen on a consistent basis in the regular season, then it will be a long year for Denver basketball.
However, the Nuggets also struggled on the offensive side of the court as well. Paul Millsap only shot a putrid 20% from the field and Jameer Nelson also scored a total of 2 points in 22 minutes of play. Harris and Jokic did have solid outings, but outside of them, the rest of the team was a bit of a disappointment. Mudiay once again disappointing as he shot only 16.7% shooting with a terrible box plus/minus of -23.
The Nuggets were unable to contain LaMarcus Aldridge as he posted 21 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. He shot 56.2% from the field along with with shooting 50% from three point territory. Bryn Forbes also torched the Nuggets’ defense with 20 points while shooting 63.6% from the field. The Spurs as an entire team had a box plus/minus of +22 for the entire game while Denver had a box plus/minus of -22.
When one takes a look at these stats, it is easy to see why the Spurs won by 22 points. The Nuggets looked unprepared as soon as the second half came around as the Spurs coaching made the right adjustments to propel them to victory.
The Denver Nuggets will battle the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 10, which should be another match up for them as the preseason comes to a close before the new NBA regular season.