The Denver Nuggets were well within reach of advancing in the NBA Cup for the first time in franchise history in the midst of their latest matchup vs. the San Antonio Spurs, and seemingly had control of the game heading into the half after a dominating second-quarter effort.
However, a collective defensive collapse and overall lackluster fourth quarter led to the Nuggets falling short of getting over the hump, losing narrowly, 136-139, and instead leaves the Spurs as the ones advancing in the in-season tournament rather than Denver.
A humbling and disappointing loss for the Nuggets to take on the chin. But in the mind of fourth-year wing Peyton Watson, experiences like these can end up being an overall positive, and in reality, could be a necessary growing pain for this team to go through in order to reach their true ceiling.
“This is honestly good for us,” Watson said after the loss vs. San Antonio, via Bennett Durando. “We need this experience. We need to know the things we aren’t good at to work on.”
“We also had a completely different team the first two-three [weeks] of the season. We had everybody. We’re spread out a little bit thinner now.”
Peyton Watson last night: “This is honestly good for us. We need this experience. We need to know the things we aren’t good at to work on. … We also had a completely different team the first 2-3 (weeks) of the season. We had everybody. We’re spread out a little bit thinner now.”
— Bennett Durando (@BennettDurando) November 29, 2025Peyton Watson Says Loss vs. Spurs is Good Experience
The Nuggets’ rotation, compared to how it looked opening night, is wildly different just over one month into the season. Aaron Gordon is out for the next four to six weeks with a hamstring strain, Christian Braun shares that same status with an ankle sprain, and as a result, Denver’s had to work without two pivotal pieces of their starting lineup, and key parts of their defensive unit.
Offensively, the Nuggets can stay afloat so long as Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are working at their current rate. But, without both Braun and Gordon on the floor, it can lead to ugly results defensively, as shown through their loss to San Antonio–– allowing a season-high in points on the other end.
When this Nuggets team can’t defend, most of the time, the end results aren’t going in their favor, with Denver going 0-3 during games where they allow over 130 points.
Nov 28, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) attempts a shot against Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) as center Nikola Jokic (15) and center Luke Kornet (7) and guard Jamal Murray (27) look on in the first quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Watson made sure to give credit where it was due to the Spurs: they’re a good, deep team, even without the services of Victor Wembanyama in the lineup. But early in the season, as Denver traverses through some early ups and downs, nights like this are simply a part of the process.
“They’re a good team, they’ve got a lot of good players, they make shots, they’re professional, they come out and play hard,” Peyton said There’s a lot to like about their team…. It’s early in the season and like [Coach Adelman] said, this game was worth the same as the next one.”
Time will tell how the Nuggets bounce back from a disheartening loss like this one, but if it can provide as any sort of fuel to get right on the defensive end, that could be just the spark necessary to get this group back on track on both sides of the ball.
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