The Nuggets’ first game without Aaron Gordon was not without drama. Even as they were fresh off a win in which their starting forward managed to burn rubber in only the first four minutes of the contest, they knew they had to be at their best against the Thunder. After all, it’s one thing to emerge victorious against the hapless Raptors, and quite another to keep pace with the Western Conference pacesetters sans a vital cog — two, actually, with Jamal Murray likewise sidelined due to concussion protocols. Despite the challenges, however, they wound up with their third win in five starts at home, and fifth in eight matches overall.
To be sure, the Nuggets aren’t projected to be among the National Basketball Association elite in the face of significant changes to their roster since they claimed the championship in 2023. Rotation regulars Bruce Brown and Jeff Green were gone that summer, with leading perimeter defender Kentavious Caldwell-Pope following suit a year later. Meanwhile, Murray has been a shell of his former self, putting up atrocious numbers in the immediate past playoffs and doing no better so far this season.
Fortunately, the Nuggets still have Nikola Jokic to lean on. Through eight games in their 2023-24 campaign, the three-time Most Valuable Player awardee has arguably never been better. And not only are his stats at all-time highs across the board; he’s amassing them with greater efficiency. Never mind that he has become even more of a focal point of the opposition’s defensive schemes, what with Murray’s continued regression and Michael Porter Jr.’s poor play. Granted, they managed to snag Russell Westbrook from free agency; the flipside, of course, is that the nine-time All-Star possesses a Hyde side invariably angling to overcome better judgment.
Bottom line, the Nuggets will go only so far as Jokic can take them. If nothing else, yesterday’s set-to provided further proof of their utter reliance on him — enabling them to once again eke out a close one. And if he needs to exert extraordinary effort this early in the season just for them to stay competitive, there’s no telling how much he will have left in the tank when the playoffs arrive. The concern may not be unique to them, but if they’re truly bent on contending for the hardware, they would do well to weigh the efficacy of pushing for short-term gains at the expense of longer-term objectives.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
