The Nuggets added to their clutch catastrophes, again, the latest in a haunting line of clutch losses, now three in a row in such games, and now losers of six of their last seven. Their only clutch win in that span was against the tanking Memphis Grizzlies. Sheesh.
They've lost to everyone who matters. The Knicks, the Pistons, the Cavs, and now Oklahoma City, too, a 127-121 overtime loss that saw the Nuggets give up another fourth-quarter lead.
All games they could have won, should have won, but didn't. It's been an all too familiar sight in the last few weeks.
None of it inspires confidence, and it's shaking loose feelings and thoughts we don't want to have. Is this clutch problem a problem the Nuggets can actually solve? Can they compete for a title? Not playing like this.
Nikola Jokic's even playing awful in the clutch. And one number truly sticks out. Jokic's currently sporting a defensive rating of 135.6 in clutch games. It's the worst in the league for centers who have started more than 13 games.
The Nuggets have been collapsing when they never used to
Even more alarming may be when the trend started. Right as the roster got healthy. Jokic, Christian Braun, and Cam Johnson returned to the starting lineup, and the Nuggets lost their once bread-and-butter magic in crunch time.
This is only a recent problem for the Nuggets. They've been well above .500 the past few years in clutch games. You expect them to be much better than 1-6 in their last seven tries, surely, but even 14-16 on the season is hard to stomach.
Last year, the Nuggets finished 21-16, but in 2023-24, Denver was 26-14 in clutch games. And the standout number from that season pertains to the Joker.
Jokic had a defensive rating of 98.4, a full 37 points better than this season. That's a shockingly large discrepancy. Even last season, it was 109.2, a number any Nuggets fan would take.
The Nuggets need Aaron Gordon back in a big way
We know now that Aaron Gordon will rejoin the Nuggets as soon as March 5th, when the Nuggets have 20 games remaining on the schedule. They're going to need every bit of those 20 to see if Gordon can be the glue that brings the team back together in the clutch. Gordon's defensive rating for the season is 108.9, a far cry better than most of the rotation.
In fact, Jokic doesn't even have the worst defensive rating in the clutch. Not even second worst. Braun's 140.2 leads the way, followed by Johnson's 137.7.
Clearly, clutch time performance has got to recover, or that's curtains on the title chase. You've got to win close games in the playoffs. Right now, it would be nice to see the Nuggets win one against someone who's playoff caliber, just to remind everyone they can.