There were a lot of positive takeaways from the Nuggets’ opening night performance, but it was hard not to be concerned by their defensive performance. They fell 137-131 to the Warriors in San Francisco, even with Aaron Gordon putting up 50 points, Jamal Murray adding 25, and Nikola Jokic starting the year with a triple-double.
But even with all of that, Denver had to work just to keep pace with Golden State, and it ultimately wasn’t enough to get the win, mostly thanks to their defense. They allowed 120 points in regulation, then another 17 in the five-minute overtime session.
The Warriors were able to shoot over 50% from the field and over 38% from three-point land, and met little resistance all game. They were able to get whatever looks they wanted, finding easy paths to the basket and open threes constantly.
Nuggets’ personnel still lacking on defensive end
Clearly, the Nuggets went out and upgraded their roster significantly, but it’s also clear that most of those moves made the offense better. None of the new additions has ever been known as defensive stoppers or players who are going to shut down opponents.
More often than not, the Nuggets will likely be able to get by on elite offense, but when they play some of the league’s top teams, they are going to struggle to get stops, and it will cost them. That’s exactly what happened on Thursday, and the Warriors took advantage.
One way or another, Denver is going to have to find ways to limit other teams’ scoring, or they will be a far less successful regular season team than they were hoping for. You could see that David Adelman is trying to find the right combinations, even holding out more offensively inclined players like Julian Strawther and Jalen Pickett, instead opting for some size and defense with Spencer Jones for six minutes.
It’s a long season, and this is just one game. The Nuggets have plenty of time to figure out their scheme and lineups, but it wasn’t a promising start. They talked during preseason about a new, more aggressive and physical scheme, but game one looked like more of the same.
It was a familiar scene on night one, as the Nuggets looked soft and were exposed on the defensive end. If they aren’t going to commit more to a physical, lockdown style of play, they’re going to have to make some changes on the fly.