The Denver Nuggets lost their season opener Thursday night on the road to the Golden State Warriors, 137-131 in overtime. The biggest headline of the game was of course Aaron Gordon's 50-point night. Despite the loss, I think Nuggets fans still have quite a bit to be optimistic about considering the circumstances.
It's certainly was not a strong night from Denver's starting unit as a whole. Yes, Gordon was on fire with 10 makes on 11 attempts from behind the three-point line. Jamal Murray also had a spectacular night, putting up 25 points in Tennessee. But the rest of the Nuggets' starting five did leave something to be desired.
Some are going to scoff at this suggestion, given that Nikola Jokic put up a triple double with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. But I would still mark this as a subpar evening for the best player on the planet, given his high standards. He only shot 8-for-23 from the floor, and 2-for-13 from three point range, with a couple of turnovers as well.
The Nuggets' roster can withstand bad games from starters
Cam Johnson certainly didn't have his greatest night in his Nuggets debut. The wing logged just five points on 25% shooting, making only one of his six three-point attempts. As for Christian Braun, he played 38 minutes, only scoring six points and finishing a -9 in box plus/minus. So all things considered, it was a lackluster evening for three of Denver's five starters, and yet they still nearly came out with the win against a good opponent.
Despite this game ultimately ending up as a number in the loss column, it should be far from doom and gloom among the Nuggets fanbase right now. In their first regular season contest together, this new group has already shown that they have the talent and cohesion to hang with very good opponents even when multiple members of their main core are having off nights.
On the one hand, it's easy to look at Gordon's 50-point night and see the glass half empty, reflecting on how the team wasted an all-time performance from him. But I think the correct view of things is actually the opposite. Denver clearly did not play to its standards on Thursday, and they led for much of this game against Stephen Curry and company, having as much as a 14-point lead at one point. This should ultimately serve as a reassurance rather than a discouragement.