When Zach Lowe said it might not be the Nuggets' year, it was before Aaron Gordon had made his long-awaited return to the lineup. It was before the Nuggets had won a clutch game over the rival Lakers.
And it was before the Nuggets saw Jamal Murray go down with an ankle injury in a game the Nuggets lost by...checks notes...39 points at home to the Knicks. He wasn't there yet, fans weren't there yet, but, wow, we could be now. Could it really not be our year?
It's a reality that can be fairly questioned after the disastrous loss at home saw the Nuggets tie a franchise record for the largest home defeat in the 142-103 loss to complete the season sweep of Denver for the Knicks.
And in a season filled with injuries, there's been one constant in the starting lineup, and now that may even be in jeopardy.
Jamal Murray's the latest Nugget to be bitten by the injury bug
Jamal Murray, who's fresh off a 45-point game in Utah and issuing a statement that got fans jazzed up after the win over the Lakers, went out late in the second quarter after getting run over by OG Anunoby and stepping on Nikola Jokic's foot, twisting his ankle, and immediately clutching at it in pain.
After the game, the Joker said what we're all hoping right now, "Hopefully we can find a way to get healthy and start playing much better."
We'll at least find out soon what the severity of Murray's ankle injury is before we can assess when that hopefully moment starts. Head coach David Adelman implied, based on prior Murray ankle injuries, "he usually comes back and plays." So hopefully, that moment arrives shortly for Nuggets fans. But only the testing and the training staff will answer that.
Are the Nuggets really not going to get healthy and have a lost season?
No one's giving up on the Nuggets. They still have three-time MVP Nikola Jokic leading the way, as he did against New York with 38 points on 14-21 shooting in three quarters. But the way it's going, his incredible season feels like it could be lost along with the Nuggets' season.
It's a reality that fans are grappling with. The Nuggets look like the best team on the planet one night, like they did in Portland when they set the largest margin of victory in the history of the franchise on the road, a win by 54 points. But then they'll follow it up with a clunker like this disaster against the Knicks, at home, no less.
They've now got 18 games remaining, still the toughest schedule the rest of the way, and five more games in a row against playoff-level teams. The time to right the ship and erase the questions surrounding health and season starts now.