The Nuggets suffered another ugly loss on Sunday, falling at home to their rivals from Minnesota, 117-108 in Ball Arena. It was more of the same for Denver of late; the defense wasn’t great, the late-game offense wasn’t great, Cam Johnson wasn’t great, and the non-Jokic minutes were a disaster.
Jonas Valanciunas only came in to spell Nikola Jokic for 9 minutes, but the Nuggets managed to lose those minutes by 15. Before his injury, the Nuggets were staggering Cam’s minutes, and he was carrying the second unit.
But that trick hasn’t been working recently, and the non-Jokic minutes have become a big story once again. Obviously, missing Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson doesn’t help, but there’s no way it should be this bad with the guys they have out there.
To make matters worse, the T-Wolves bench played great on Sunday, and leading the charge was former Nugget, Bones Hyland, who put up 18 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists on 6-7 shooting in just 15 minutes.
Bones Hyland sticks it to Nuggets on Sunday
Denver drafted Hyland 26th overall in 2021 and saw him break out, making an All-Rookie team. But, he was traded away the next season, and his play has steadily declined ever since, to the point he was almost out of hte league last offseason.
But the Wolves brought him in, and they’re thankful they did, because he has carved out a spot in the rotation and has been able to give them a spark off the bench, just like he did against his old team on Sunday afternoon.
Nuggets still haven’t solved bench issues
As much as this season was supposed to be different, it’s starting to feel an awful lot like the last two seasons. Denver is struggling badly whenever Jokic is off the court, and he’s playing such heavy minutes that he’s gassed by crunch time. The same is happening with Jamal Murray, who has been slumping of late, and without AG and P-Wat, they just don’t have enough ammo.
They can’t afford for Cam Johnson and Christian Braun to play their way back into a rhythm, and that’s without even getting back other players from injury. Meanwhile, the team is now 5-8 since Jokic returned from his knee injury, and they’ve fallen to fifth place in the West, tied in the loss column with the Lakers for sixth.
The goal was to survive and stay in the 2-3 mix, which would create a solid path forward in the playoffs, but having to come from the 5-6 range, or - gulp - the play-in tournament, would be a disaster. Having to go on the road for three straight series and likely go through three of the Wolves, Thunder, Spurs, and Rockets is a daunting task, no matter how healthy the team is. But if they don’t turn things around soon, that’s the path they’re facing.