Denver's insider is still confident that the Nuggets are the main threat to OKC despite a losing streak

After recently blowing an 18-point lead against the San Antonio Spurs and getting knocked out of the NBA Cup, the Denver Nuggets suffered their fourth consecutive home loss last night, this time to the Dallas Mavericks, who overturned a 17-point deficit.

The final score was 131–121 for Jason Kidd’s squad and the most concerning thing for David Adelman is that they allowed 131 points to a team that, with 107.0 points per 100 possessions, ranks dead last in offensive rating.

We watched a great battle under the rim, where Nikola Jokic finished with 29 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists but shot just 10-for-24, while Anthony Davis had 32 points and 13 rebounds on 13-for-23 shooting. The Mile High City team now sits fourth in the West at 14–6, which has raised plenty of questions around the roster.

“Denver’s defense has slipped without an injured Aaron Gordon, which is to be expected when you realize, for the season, that the Nuggets have been allowing 16 more points per 100 possessions whenever he’s sat. All that lauded offseason depth now has its chance to shine without him and with Christian Braun still sidelined, but make no mistake: This team’s still built to be the Thunder’s primary contender and it’s just a matter of getting there,” Tim Cato wrote in his piece for “The DNVR”.

Denver’s defense is among the worst in the league

The Nuggets are in the stretch in which, due to injuries to Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon, they’ll be shorthanded for at least a month, possibly longer. Adding to the concern is Jamal Murray‘s ankle injury from last night as he attempted to return to the game twice, unsuccessfully and it remains to be seen whether it’s something serious.

So we’re witnessing a situation where the Serbian center is playing the season of his life, something hard to even imagine after last year, while the Nuggets are far from their best. Looking at the first 11 games of the season, when they were fully healthy, the Nuggets ranked among the league’s top three teams in defensive rating.

But after losing their two best defenders in the starting lineup, their defensive rating over the last 10 games has fallen to 121.4 points allowed per 100 possessions, only 28th in the league during that stretch, dropping them to 13th overall.

Jones and Watson are gaining more and more confidence

Still, every bad situation brings some good. During this tough period, Cameron Johnson has finally started to play well, while Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones have successfully stepped into starting roles from the bench. Jones is the biggest surprise as no one expected him to enter the starting five, yet over his last two games, he’s averaging 22.0 points and 7.0 rebounds on 17-of-25 shooting and 8-of-12 from deep.

Those numbers won’t hold long-term, of course, but they give him the confidence he needs for future key matchups this season and potentially even a playoff series against a top Western Conference team, since Jones is primarily a strong perimeter defender.

The Colorado team will be without key pieces for a while, meaning more workload for Jokic, but at the same time, they’re gaining a lot from their specialist-type players like Watson and Jones.

That’s something both Adelman and Nuggets fans can hold onto moving forward.

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 2, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Denver’s insider is still confident that the Nuggets are the main threat to OKC despite a losing streak

Tags: