All-Star Game Provides Much-Needed Break for the Nuggets

The 'first-half' of the season comes to a close. Where do the Nuggets stand?

Welcome back to another edition of the Your Nuggets Newsletter. We’re coming in a day later than normal. We had to make sure the Nuggets actually beat the Grizzlies on their way to a well-deserved breather for NBA All-Star Weekend. They did. Barely.

That’s been the theme for the Nuggets lately. Close wins. Close losses. Mostly losses, it feels like. When they come in the final second, they tend to hurt more. The loss against the Cavs stung. The Nuggets find themselves limping into the break.

But they bounced back against the Grizzlies and now have a chance to rest. Except for Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. They’ll both be taking part in the All-Star Game, and Murray will be competing in the NBA 3-Point Contest on All-Star Saturday, too.

For Murray, it’s his first appearance in both events. Afterwards, he’ll look to get rest and recovery, and he needs it most. Head coach David Adelman, in an interview, singled out Murray, who’s been the only constant in the starting lineup this year.

Where do the Nuggets stand?

The Nuggets enter the break 35-20, and sit third in the West standings. They’ve been playing great this season despite numerous injuries that have affected almost the entire roster.

They’ve been playing most of the season with four or fewer opening night starters in the lineup. Christian Braun went down first. Then it was Aaron Gordon. And then, it was Cam Johnson. And then, the best basketball player on the planet, Nikola Jokic. And then, and then, and then. No more and then!

But, there was. Aaron Gordon re-injured his hamstring, Peyton Watson did the same, and Spencer Jones entered the concussion protocol.

At one point, I called it the ‘morgue report.’ It didn’t feel like hyperbole. Everyone was dropping like flies.

But the Nuggets finally have 80% of their starters back, and they’ve found a bevy of players to rotate in at the wing now.

The young future stars of the bench stepped up

Peyton Watson entered the starting lineup for Christian Braun and never left until his grade 2 hamstring injury struck, which left him sidelined for at least four weeks. But before that, after the calendar changed to 2026, Watson was on fire, putting up 21.2 points per game. Over the course of the month without Jokic, Watson turned into a budding star and gave the Nuggets a third option behind the Joker and Murray.

Next, it was Spencer Jones. Jones came in and gave the Nuggets a boost when AG went down. He started 36 games and provided nice floor spacing and hustle. But the concussion sent him to the bench, and he may have been Wally Pipp’ed.

Julian Strawther moved into the starting rotation in place of Jones, and he’s been marvelous, going for 19 and 5 and 20 and 6 in his first two starts on his way to five-straight games with double-digits.

They have to work on the defense

As the season marches on, the Nuggets should get healthier, and they could even add one more player from the buyout market to shore up the roster.

But the biggest issue is the defense. It’s terrible. Really bad. They rank near the bottom in nearly every major defensive metric. They don’t pressure other teams nearly enough, and it’s killing them in the clutch.

The Nuggets are 14-13 in the clutch this season, league average. Wide open shots, easy layups, back-door dunks, etc. This can’t be happening anymore. Little mistakes at the end of the game have been the dagger this year.

The offense is still a wagon

Despite the injury woes, the Nuggets remain the top offensive team in the league. They’re the best three-point shooting team and the highest scoring team. That’s not going to be a problem. It’s the biggest bright spot at the moment.

Where do we go from here?

It’s the All-Star break. Get some rest. Watch All-Star Saturday night, the All-Star Game, and reconvene for a ‘second-half’ preview next Wednesday. Enjoy your break!

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If you enjoyed this post, please like, subscribe, and share. David Decker is the author of the Your Nuggets Newsletter. You can find his other content on his Substack, The Stat Spectrum, and at NuggLove.com, where he is the Site Expert.