Nuggets face daunting challenge during Nikola Jokić's absence

The challenge was steep, the response was smashing and the reaction to the result was surprise. This happened when the Denver Nuggets executed one of the more unexpected victories of the 2025-26 season by beating the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime on Monday night.

Oh, some context: The Nuggets were missing their top five players. Usually in these situations, teams are vulnerable and that kind of game is pretty much an automatic loss.

In the specific case of the Nuggets right now, there’s an added historical component: When Nikola Jokić is either on the bench taking a breather or, on rare occasions, in street clothes, defeat is usually imminent (even if everyone else is healthy). They’re fragile without him because of a lack of an All-Star teammate and, most importantly, his varied skill set triggers everything. They rely on their triple-double artist arguably more than any other team depends on its star.

Jokić remains on the mend from a hyperextended left knee and could miss the rest of this month. This has heavy implications for the Nuggets, who were once in second place in the Western Conference with Jokić healthy and heavily in Kia MVP contention. Now, they are susceptible to a free-fall without him.

Denver is asking its role players to increase their production and see more meaningful minutes, especially in tight games. Those players must step beyond their comfort zone when placed in situations that, in the past, they either watched from the bench or never touched the ball.

The Nuggets managed to do that against the Sixers, but was that OT victory an anomaly? Or was it a sign that they’ve finally turned the corner while playing without Jokić, or maybe something in between?

The next few weeks will reveal the truth for a team that’s 2-2 without Jokić.

In a bit of curious timing, the Nuggets play on Wednesday in Boston (7 p.m. ET, ESPN), where the Celtics are flourishing and setting the standard for how to cover for a missing superstar (hint: It helps to have Jaylen Brown). This is a basketball case study, where one team — the Celtics, without Jayson Tatum — is taking the up escalator while reasonable projections have the Nuggets descending (at least for now).

“We just have to go out there and play hard,” said Nuggets swingman Bruce Brown. “People are expecting us to lose. Like, we have nothing to lose. Just go out there and hoop. We’ve been on the other side before, where teams had key people out, so we know what that’s like.”

Here’s the sketchy state of the Nuggets sans Jokić and the hints being dropped:

Gordon & Braun are back

In what represented a delicious and welcome development, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun returned to the lineup days after Jokić left it. Gordon missed 19 straight games with a hamstring strain, while Braun missed 23 with an ankle injury.

What’s remarkable is how Jokić diminished those absences before his own injury by carrying the team in the West. It speaks volumes about the seven-foot Serbian and how legendary he has become, to keep a short-handed team winning through a generous stretch.

Gordon and Braun are important figures, but both are on a minutes restriction at the moment and likely won’t see action in back-to-back situations until those restrictions are lifted.

Murray making an All-Star push

Jamal Murray is arguably the best player who never made an All-Star team, mainly because (a) injuries played a part in that, and (b) Murray is a notoriously slow starter. He normally catches fire in the final few months of the season — too late for the All-Star vote — and has an especially sparkling playoff track record.

But that could change next month if, as anticipated, he finally gets the nod. Murray is averaging career highs in scoring (25.4 points), assists (7.2 apg, while playing alongside Jokić, the NBA assists leader), 3-point shooting percentage (44.7) and a tick behind his career high in field goal percentage (48).

Just as Brown stepped into the lead singer role with the Celtics, the Nuggets need Murray to take the wheel.

Some lingering depth issues

The Nuggets are in a tough spot, not just because of Jokić, but his backup, Jonas Valančiūnas, is out with a calf strain and won’t be re-evaluated for another three weeks. That leaves Denver with a big man problem and they’ve been badly out-rebounded without Jokić and Valanciunas.

Cam Johnson is also mending from a right knee contusion, with his next checkup three weeks away. Johnson’s first season in Denver hasn’t been very productive, but he’s still a key defender and 3-point shooter, and his absence is heightened on a team with missing bodies.

Watson makes his mark

If there’s a silver lining in all of this, it is that the Nuggets discovered a rotational keeper in Peyton Watson. They’ve put plenty on his plate, and despite missing a corner 3-pointer vs. Dallas last month after Jokić deferred on a game-winning shot attempt, Watson is delivering in ways that even the Nuggets probably didn’t imagine.

Entering Wednesday, he’s averaging 23 ppg and 5.8 rpg while all his key metrics — scoring, minutes, efficiency and overall offensive production — are career highs in his first season as a starter. David Adelman, in his first full year as Denver’s coach, has given Watson more responsibility and has confidence in the 23-year-old.

A chase that won’t let up

These Nuggets are in a narrow-room-for-error situation without Jokić. The West is unforgiving, and all of the contenders trailing Oklahoma City — the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns — are more than prepared to pass Denver in the standings.

That would force the Nuggets to spend the second half of the season playing catch-up in this worst-case scenario.

The Nuggets aren’t in this situation alone. The results are mixed league-wide regarding teams that either are missing crucial centerpieces or have for long stretches this season.

• The Milwaukee Bucks struggled last month while their star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, recovered from a sore right calf. He’s back now, but the Bucks are flirting with the lottery. Without an All-Star teammate, Antetokounmpo might be unable to rescue them anyway.
• The Philadelphia 76ers managed to keep from submarining during Joel Embiid’s frequent absences due to knee issues (thank you very much, Tyrese Maxey). They could make a charge in the East if Embiid, now relatively healthy, continues to play at a solid level.
• The Atlanta Hawks had surprisingly good stretches without Trae Young … and then struggled somewhat when he returned. That he has been discussed in trade talk lately is probably not by accident.
• The Spurs soared while waiting for Victor Wembanyama to heal from calf tightness and made the Emirates NBA Cup championship game largely because their guard play, led by De’Aaron Fox, dominated games.

Therefore, in these situations, the affected teams are at the mercy of the schedule, the healing powers of their star and the whims of the replacements. After that inspired win over the 76ers, here’s what Adelman said:

“This is a bunch of guys finding a way to get it done with grit and effort … and I think that’s something that, when they’re older, 20 years from now, they’re probably gonna have a beer and talk about this game.”

Perhaps so. In the meantime, the mountain still needs climbing and the beer remains on ice. It’ll be a grind every night for the Nuggets without Jokić, and logic, if nothing else, is against them. Adelman realizes this:

“The whole point of this is just try to get through this month, win enough games that you wake up in February and go, ‘Hey, we’re still in the top six or whatever it may be.’ So, it’s just survival mode.”

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA since 1985. You can e-mail him at spowell@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.