Nikola Jokic calls out Nuggets after another pathetic home loss

The Nuggets followed up their poor Christmas Day showing in Phoenix with a very ugly home loss to the Cavaliers, 149-134. The Nuggets showed no signs of life on the defensive end whatsoever, allowing 40 points in each of the first two quarters.

The 27-4 Cavs were able to get what they wanted all night and carved the Nuggets up to the tune of 56% shooting and a ridiculous 23/48 shooting from three-point range. The Denver players couldn’t stop dribble penetration, which kept their defense in rotation all night long while the Cavs rained threes all over the place.

The Nuggets were playing without Aaron Gordon, who missed the game with a calf injury suffered on Christmas. Michael Malone attempted to shake things up by inserting Russell Westbrook into the starting lineup, but this team had no answers for Cleveland from the start.

The offense wasn’t bad, but the Nuggets just don’t have good point-of-attack defenders. They can’t stop dribble penetration and they can’t navigate screens effectively. These shortcomings are also magnifying the lack of rim protection and Nikola Jokic’s weaknesses on that end.

Jokic says Nuggets are “not even close”

Jokic didn’t have his best game but for the most part, he’s been the only one playing at a championship level this season. After the game, he didn’t hold back when talking about his team. Jokic said the Nuggets, “are not even close to where we're supposed to be. I think how bad we've played, we're in a good spot."

It’s actually crazy to think that Jokic is probably right; for as bad as things have been, a 16-13 record doesn’t feel that awful. It’s mostly a testament to the Joker and his brilliance that the team has made it this far with a record that isn’t disastrous.

Jokic then went on to imply that everyone needs to be less selfish and stop focusing on personal agendas. "We need to start thinking what I can do for this team to help, not what the team can do to help me...We should point (the thumb not the finger)."

Nikola has never been shy or one to mince words but this season more than ever, he has been vocal about the team’s lack of quality and talent. He has appeared to call out the team on multiple occasions and has essentially made it clear that he doesn’t feel the roster is good enough.

The three-time MVP has always been a good soldier and never made the slightest hint that he would want to leave Denver. But the start to this season has been eye-opening, and not in a good way. The Nuggets need to make changes for a multitude of reasons, but keeping Jokic happy might be the biggest.