The Denver Nuggets suffered a disappointing loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. The Trail Blazers dominated the Nuggets, winning 128-109 to defend their home court, and Denver looked lost without three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on the court.
Jokic has missed the last three games due to injury, and the Nuggets are now 1-2 in that span. Denver has lost three of their last four games and five of their last eight to fall to 44-27 on the season and have lost ground toward the top of the Western Conference standings.
Final#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/A2zjJSp6TR
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) March 22, 2025
The Trail Blazers have surprisingly been one of the hottest teams in the league, winning four consecutive games, but that is not an excuse for how the Nuggets fell flat on Friday night.
Following the game, Nuggets star point guard Jamal Murray got brutally honest about their performance from Friday night.
"We can't have these lapses, and when we do, we have to make sure we're bouncing back and staying mindful of them," Murray said. "This wasn't us tonight, we'll be better next time."
"This wasn't us tonight, we'll be better next time" -Jamal Murray
Hear from Jamal Murray following the loss to Portland #MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/BZitGnFKqp
— AltitudeTV (@AltitudeTV) March 22, 2025
Murray finished the night with just 10 points on 5-10 shooting from the field, being the lowest-scoring starter in a game where the Nuggets desperately needed him to step up offensively. Of course, the Nuggets are a much different team without Jokic, so there is no reason for them not to bounce back from this loss moving forward.
Denver now heads into a huge matchup with the second-place Houston Rockets on Sunday.