In the aftermath of a painful 105-102 Game 2 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers, the Denver Nuggets were candid about their shortcomings. Players and coaches alike acknowledged their roles in the unraveling, but the hard truth was evident — when Nikola Jokic is merely good and not brilliant, the Nuggets as currently constructed are vulnerable.
Inside the locker room, emotions ran high. Michael Porter Jr., visibly frustrated, moved from teammate to teammate offering apologies for his costly turnover late in the game that not only led to a lost possession but also left him nursing a shoulder injury. “I am sorry,” Porter told Aaron Gordon, owning responsibility for a sequence that swung momentum away from Denver. Gordon, however, was quick to remind Porter that no single moment decided the outcome.
The loss, instead, was death by a thousand cuts. Denver missed eight crucial free throws, and Gordon failed to convert a pivotal dunk with 2:43 remaining, admitting afterward that he rushed the attempt after glancing at the shot clock. Interim coach David Adelman opted against calling a timeout on the team’s final possession, leading to a disjointed, hurried offensive set that ended with Christian Braun missing a deep three-pointer.
At the center of it all was Jokic, who posted a triple-double but looked far from his MVP-caliber self. His seven turnovers proved costly, and his rushed shot after an offensive rebound late in the fourth quarter — a miscommunication with Jamal Murray — symbolized a team slightly out of sync when precision was most needed. “We can all say (what Porter said),” Jokic reflected at his postgame press conference. “CB can blame himself for missing the 3. I can blame myself for turnovers. We care, and that’s important.”
The defeat offered a harsh but necessary reflection: the Nuggets cannot afford for Jokic to be anything short of extraordinary. Unlike previous playoff runs, the margin for error is now razor thin, and the supporting cast, while talented, has yet to show they can shoulder more of the burden when needed.
Murray, battling an illness that left him noticeably fatigued despite posting 23 points, fought valiantly. Porter, after recent inconsistency, produced a 15-point, 15-rebound performance. Yet it was still not enough to overcome the mistakes and the lack of execution down the stretch.
As the series shifts to Los Angeles, Denver faces a critical juncture. They must quickly rediscover their championship form — a form that demands their best player to lead with dominance and their role players to execute with precision. Otherwise, their title defense could end much sooner than anyone anticipated.
With the Clippers gaining momentum and the Nuggets searching for answers, Game 3 now looms as a defining moment for Denver’s season — and perhaps a referendum on whether this roster has the depth and resilience to withstand adversity without Jokic playing at an otherworldly level.