Passionate Appear: Nuggets reveals drastic Measures to be made to break the deadlock, urging Fans to have Optimism

HOUSTON, TX — While Nikola Jokic’s individual brilliance and flawless combination with Jamal Murray created the groundwork for the Denver Nuggets’ NBA championship run last season, occasional and timely defense offered an underlying support for their postseason success.

Without Murray, who is out with a hamstring injury, the Nuggets can’t afford to be average defensively, which has been the case recently.

Denver suffered their third defeat in four games on November 22 as they were defeated 124-119 on the road by the Orlando Magic, providing a defensive effort that lacked all of the markings of a championship contender.

“We gave up 42 points in the fourth quarter,” stated Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “That’s an embarrassing number – 42 points in the fourth quarter with the game on the line.”

“And the strange thing about that fourth quarter was that we didn’t guard.

“They didn’t miss many shots, but they had four offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter for eight points.”

“When we did find a way to force them to miss, we just stood and ball-watched.”

The Nuggets will wrap up a five-game road trip on Nov 24 (Nov 25 morning, Singapore time) against the Houston Rockets, who defeated Denver 107-104 at home on Nov 12.

To prevent a second loss in Houston in as many games, the Nuggets will need to recover their defensive energy.

Denver began its road trip with losses in New Orleans and Cleveland, allowing the Pelicans to shoot 52.3 percent from the field before the Cavaliers shot 54.9 percent.

The Nuggets’ defensive fragility was on full display in the third stanza in Orlando.

“That’s just not good enough against a quality team like the Magic,” he said.

On Nov. 22, the Rockets took a different path to success against the Memphis Grizzlies, coming alive down the stretch of the third quarter and extending that momentum into the fourth in their 111-91 home win – their seventh consecutive triumph at Toyota Centre.

Guard Jalen Green came alive after the break, scoring 26 of his season-high 34 points in the second half.

After halftime, he made 10 of 16 shots from the field, including three three-pointers, and delivered a thunderous dunk in the final seconds of the third that thrilled his teammates.

“It gave us some juice,” remarked Rockets head coach Ime Udoka. “But obviously it got him going even more.”

After a slow shooting start, Udoka and veteran guard Fred VanVleet pleaded with Green to stay aggressive.

VanVleet went so far as to pull Green aside and have a “one-way conversation” with him after Green was furious because VanVleet missed him on a transition lob attempt.

The Rockets’ balanced offensive plan has been successful, but their offense thrives when Green takes a more assertive approach and capitalizes on his innate scoring abilities.

“We need to do a better job of getting him more involved and finding ways for him to be more successful (and) more impactful for us,” VanVleet stated in reference to Green.

“Obviously, we need that scoring punch out of the backcourt from him.” REUTERS

Evidently in all the four games loss, all the Nuggets’ opponents have averaged around 116 points a game which would be around 23rd in the NBA in defensive rating.

Along with Slovenian Vlatko Cancar who could sit out the entire 2023-24 season, the team is also missing Jamal Murray, coached by Michael Malone.