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Nikola Jokic during a game against the Chicago Bulls in October 2025
The Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets have had an incongruous regular season.
Entering the 2025-26 season, like each of the last three or four years, there was a borderline title or bust expectation. Coming out of the gates, the Nuggets looked very much the part, racing out to a 19-6 start with a seven-game win streak sandwiched in between.
Then, things started spiraling fast.
Some of that had to do with the number of injuries sustained to key rotational pieces, notably to Jokic, but a lot of it was also just subpar play that fans weren’t used to seeing.
Since the start of the new year, Denver has been quite average, to put it directly. But with some runway remaining until the start of the regular season, the franchise hopes it can capture some velocity entering the postseason.
Nikola Jokic Offers Strong Take on Denver’s Play Without Him
At the end of December, the Nuggets were left covering their eyes after Jokic injured his lower leg in a road game against the Miami Heat. In the fashion he went down, many were ready to accept the terrifying truth that the team’s franchise player would be sidelined for months. Ultimately, Denver struck some luck when it was revealed its 31-year-old superstar would get reevaluated after a few weeks. Phew.
Still, most were convinced the Nuggets’ season would unravel quickly. Much has been said about the team’s inconsistencies when Jokic checks out of a game to catch a breather. It would be a miracle if the team could hover around .500 in the games without Jokic. But something strange happened.
GettyNikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
After going just 1-2 in their first three games with Jokic in street clothes, the Nuggets rattled off nine wins in their next 13 contests, and much of that, according to Jokic, was thanks to the play of Jamal Murray.
“I mean, to be honest, when I was injured, he played much better than when he was injured because he didn’t turn the ball over,” Jokic said in a recent interview. “He was getting the guys open, you know, he didn’t over complicate it. He was making shots, so he was getting his own.”
For a three-time league MVP, that is certainly saying a lot. Jokic is clearly his team’s best player and must be at his very best in order for his team to realistically make a deep postseason run, but his admiration of Murray’s game speaks volumes to the duo’s relationship and why they have been effective in the many years they’ve played together.
Murray, 29, has averaged 27.8 points, 8.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 12 games without Jokic in the lineup this season. Although the All-Star guard has battled stretches of inconsistent play over his decade-long career, the Nuggets are certainly several steps better when he is clicking and scoring in bunches.
Without Murray stepping up during his partner-in-crime’s absence, Denver could have quite easily tumbled down the standings, and with how unforgiving the Western Conference is each year, Murray deserves some praise for holding down the fort.
Denver Must Stop Waffling Before the Start of the Playoffs
It is almost that time of year again, and everyone in the Mile High City knows it.
With the playoffs less than four weeks away, it is now or never for title-hopeful teams to get their act together and piece together a strong stretch of games before the spring tournament tips off.
But with how the Nuggets have fared recently, including an ugly loss to the lowly Memphis Grizzlies earlier this week, there is real cause for concern regarding the team’s ceiling this postseason. While there isn’t a talent shortage on the roster, there hasn’t been a ton of continuity to bank on thus far. The Nuggets are getting healthier, however, and it should help their cause as the regular season races to a close.
The team is expecting the long-awaited return of rising star swingman Peyton Watson into the lineup in tonight’s home game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Denver cannot afford to lolly-gag and drop this game. Each loss, especially if it is one against a team not playing for much, will hurt drastically when the standings are set in stone in a few weeks.
The Nuggets are just two games above .500 since the turn of the calendar. Read that again. We are talking about a nearly 40-game sample size. That is nearly half the season!
They’ll need to put the losses behind them and retool their approach as April comes knocking on the door.
Adel Ahmad Adel is a writer with over five years of experience covering the NBA. His work has appeared on various media platforms, both national and local. More about Adel Ahmad
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