Nuggets' Leaders Discuss Inability to Close Out Games After Recent Loss

The Denver Nuggets lost another tight game on Sunday. They fell 128-117 to a hobbled Warriors team in a game where they had a shot down the line. What made this loss worse is that the Warriors were without Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green in the game, and the Nuggets got another masterful performance from Nikola Jokic. 

Even though Jokic ended the game with a 35-point, 20-rebound triple-double, the Nuggets didn’t have the execution late to overcome a feisty Warriors squad. 

After the loss, Jokic and teammate Christian Braun both spoke about the Nuggets' struggles with closing tight games. 

"I'm definitely concerned, because we are losing the games. We are losing the games, and we are not creating open looks. So that's something that we need to change. ... I don't know what it is, but we need to figure it out,” said Jokic. 

Braun added, "I think a lot of it this year has just been not holding our spots. Not being tough enough. ... It has nothing to do with our process down the stretch. It has nothing to do with anything besides, we need to hold our spots."

The Nuggets want to be a championship contender, and being unable to finish games strongly is a real issue. Right now, in clutch scenarios, the Nuggets are ranked 7th in offensive rating but 29th in defensive rating. 

So while Jokic says he doesn’t know why the team has been dropping close games, it seems abundantly clear. Their defense, which is normally the 22nd best in the league (not ideal), drops to second-worst in the league in clutch scenarios. 

If the Nuggets can’t fix this problem before the playoffs roll around, they are going to have a hard time meeting the championship expectations they’ve put on themselves.