Denver Nuggets: The dreadful experiment that didn’t work

The Denver Nuggets won’t be pulling this stunt again. Here’s a breakdown of their one fatal error Wednesday, and its impact on future games.

Well, that strategy panned out miserably.

In 2018-19, the Denver Nuggets are 0-1 when Nikola Jokic attempts one shot or less. Admittedly, this is a strange statistic. Yet, one field goal attempt is all Jokic managed in a flat, 89-87 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday. The Nuggets reaffirmed what they already knew: An offense devoid of Jokic does not work.

Jokic finished 0-for-1 from the field, posting four points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. The Nuggets fell for just the second time in 2018-19. It was their lowest output of the season by 13 points.

It’s hard to argue with Jamal Murray-ball in Monday’s win over the Boston Celtics. Meanwhile, Jokic’s 16 assists served Denver well during Saturday’s win against the Utah Jazz. Sometimes a low-scoring Jokic affair makes sense for the Nuggets, as long as he is involved offensively.

The Joker was not involved offensively in Wednesday’s loss. He was barely even a pedestrian. As Denver struggled mightily against the Grizzlies stout defense, the squad looked for their young superstar. He was nowhere to be found.

Over the past four contests, Jokic is averaging 5.8 points per game. This is simply unacceptable. Consecutive strings of low-scoring games for the Joker is Denver’s formula for a crash, regardless of how much better the defense looks these days.

Here’s what Mike Malone said after Wednesday’s game, per the Denver Post:

"“Marc Gasol, no disrespect to him, has never been labeled a great athlete, but he has been a Defensive Player of the Year because of his IQ, his intelligence, his positioning.”“Will Nikola ever be a Defensive Player of the Year?  I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past him. But I’ve seen huge growth in that area from Nikola Jokic in the last couple of years. There’s definitely a comparison there.”"

Additionally, Malone touched on this from a team-wide standpoint, per the Denver Post:

"“My hope is that as the year goes on, our defense remains a constant. It’s an anchor to our team no matter what’s going on on offense.”"

Interesting points from Malone. Props to him and the coaching staff for this wonderful new-look defense — a huge reason Denver is 9-2 out of the gate. But defense wasn’t the problem for Jokic Wednesday. He actually looked more engaged on that end, tallying three steals.

The same could be said about the entire Nuggets squad. Defensively, everything was fine, which is a huge change from last year. It was the offense that struggled against Memphis. Similar to many teams, Denver follows its superstar. Jokic sets the tone, which is why his lack of offense is especially harmful.

Nikola Jokic is way too talented to shoot just once. Denver’s coaching staff would be wise to render this the last time he is uninvolved offensively. Meanwhile, Jokic has joined the NBA’s elite circle of superstars. In light of Wednesday’s loss against Memphis, it’s time he starts acting like one in times of adversity.

Whether you want to blame Jokic, the coaching staff or his teammates, it doesn’t matter; the Nuggets don’t win when Jokic isn’t involved offensively. Denver’s record will quickly plummet if this becomes common practice. Hopefully, the lesson was learned in Wednesday’s loss.