ATLANTA — After a rock-bottom defeat that bailed their opponent out of a 16-game losing streak, the only path to redemption for the Nuggets was to snap the next foe’s six-game win streak — 24 hours later, in a different city.

Nikola Jokic amassed another 48 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and three steals, but this time he had help as Denver salvaged its three-game Eastern Conference road swing with a 141-111 win over the Hawks on Sunday night.

Michael Porter Jr. bounced back from an 0-for-5 outside shooting night in Washington by weaseling into the paint for an onslaught dunks and layups. He contributed 26 points on 12 for 17 shooting. Christian Braun added 17 points, eight boards and two steals. Russell Westbrook went for 11 assists.

And with Jamal Murray sidelined (right hamstring inflammation) for the second consecutive game, Jokic had another monster scoring night. He finished the road back-to-back with 104 combined points between Washington and Atlanta, including a pull-up shot from half-court 0.2 seconds before the halftime buzzer. It was almost as if he was showing off; he released it with two seconds remaining still, forgoing an opportunity to step in closer to the 3-point line. No matter — the heave gave Denver a 71-48 lead and was emblematic of a trend that needed reversing.

The Nuggets (12-10) were outscored by 147 points from behind the 3-point line in their previous six games combined. In each of the last four, they attempted exactly 24 outside shots, well below their 30th-place average of 31 per game. Their lack of 3-point volume during that stretch was exacerbated by some of their worst perimeter defense of the season.

“We took 24 last night. Jordan Poole took 20 by himself,” Michael Malone pointed out before the game at State Farm Arena. “And I think it’s: Are we generating the right shots? Are guys committing to their shot? I think there’s a number of factors offensively. But more to (the) point, it is defensively. How do we find a way to defend the 3-point line much better than we have? And they’ve been getting it in transition. They’re getting it off pick-and-rolls. They’re getting it off drive-and-kick. They’re getting a bunch of offensive rebounds. So that by far is my bigger concern, but not generating enough quality looks is definitely a concern as well.”

The defense delivered a satisfying response. While Denver shot 12 of 27 from three, the Hawks were a dismal 9 of 40. They started capitalizing on lackadaisical rotations and close-outs in the fourth quarter when the Nuggets’ lead was oscillating between 19 and 25, but even so, the perimeter was a refreshing net win.

Julian Strawther was a major part of that, scoring 13 points off the bench to complete an efficient back-to-back for himself as a scorer. Even fellow 2023 draft pick Jalen Pickett knocked one down. Operating out of pick-and-rolls with Jokic and DeAndre Jordan, he played arguably the best minutes of his short career, which has been spent mostly in the G League with the Grand Rapids Gold.

The Nuggets have had two games added to their regular-season schedule after being eliminated in the group stage of the NBA Cup, but first they will rest for the next four days. The Clippers visit Ball Arena on Friday night for a third matchup between the teams this season.

ATLANTA — After a rock-bottom defeat that bailed their opponent out of a 16-game losing streak, the only path to redemption for the Nuggets was to snap the next foe’s six-game win streak — 24 hours later, in a different city.

Nikola Jokic amassed another 48 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and three steals, but this time he had help as Denver salvaged its three-game Eastern Conference road swing with a 141-111 win over the Hawks on Sunday.

“It was the response that was needed,” coach Michael Malone said. “It’s not surprising. This is what I expected from a group that’s won a lot of games and that has set a bar that’s very high. So for us to come out there and win a first quarter, and win a first half, and not play behind and get defense into the game, that’s outstanding. … We needed a win and we got it.”

Michael Porter Jr. bounced back from an 0-for-5 outside shooting night in Washington by weaseling into the paint for an onslaught of dunks and layups. He contributed 26 points on 12 for 17 shooting. Christian Braun added 17 points, eight boards and two steals. Russell Westbrook went for 11 assists.

“When Russ is out there with Nikola, he’s just always looking for him,” Malone said. “He’s always trying to find him. And that makes complete sense to me. You’re playing with the best player in the world. You might want to give him the ball.”

On the receiving end of those dimes, with Jamal Murray sidelined (right hamstring inflammation) for the second consecutive game, Jokic had another monster scoring night. He finished the road back-to-back with 104 combined points between Washington and Atlanta, including a pull-up shot from half-court 0.2 seconds before the halftime buzzer. It was almost as if he was showing off; he released it with two seconds remaining still, forgoing an opportunity to step in closer to the 3-point line. No matter — the heave gave Denver a 71-48 lead and was emblematic of a trend that needed reversing.

The Nuggets (12-10) were outscored by 147 points from behind the 3-point line in their previous six games combined. In each of the last four, they attempted exactly 24 outside shots, well below their 30th-place average of 31 per game. Their lack of 3-point volume during that stretch was exacerbated by some of their worst perimeter defense of the season.

“We took 24 last night. Jordan Poole took 20 by himself,” Malone pointed out before the game at State Farm Arena. “And I think it’s: Are we generating the right shots? Are guys committing to their shot? I think there’s a number of factors offensively. But more to (the) point, it is defensively. How do we find a way to defend the 3-point line much better than we have? And they’ve been getting it in transition. They’re getting it off pick-and-rolls. They’re getting it off drive-and-kick. They’re getting a bunch of offensive rebounds. So that by far is my bigger concern, but not generating enough quality looks is definitely a concern as well.”

The defense delivered a satisfying response. Westbrook held Trae Young to 15 points on 13 shots, “making him do a little bit extra,” as Jokic put it. While Denver shot 12 of 27 from three, the Hawks were contained to a dismal 9 of 40. They briefly capitalized on lackadaisical rotations and close-outs in the fourth quarter when their deficit was oscillating between 19 and 25, but even so, 3-point territory was a refreshing net win for Denver.

Julian Strawther was a major part of that, scoring 13 points off the bench to complete an efficient back-to-back for himself as a scorer. Even fellow 2023 draft pick Jalen Pickett knocked one down. Operating out of pick-and-rolls with Jokic and DeAndre Jordan, he played arguably the best minutes of his short career, which has been spent mostly in the G League with the Grand Rapids Gold.

“It’s definitely the most exciting moment I’ve had here,” Pickett said. “Played a couple good games. To be able to help these guys win a game means a lot.”

“I think Pickett’s been great. … I thought his minutes in Washington last night, his minutes tonight were impactful,” Malone said. “They were efficient. He gets guys involved.”

The Nuggets have had two games added to their regular-season schedule after being eliminated in the group stage of the NBA Cup, but first they will rest for the next four days. The Clippers visit Ball Arena on Friday night for a third matchup between the teams this season.

PARIS — After a day that will live in infamy to the people of Serbia, a handful of old friends talked deep into the night. It was Aug. 8, and then it was Aug. 9, and they couldn’t sleep. So in the treatment room of their team hotel, a few Serbian basketball players ordered a drink and decompressed.

They relived moments from their game that day — a heartbreaking 95-91 loss to Team USA in the semifinals of the Paris Olympics. They pondered how they would bounce back in the upcoming bronze medal game against Germany. Eventually, the conversation drifted away from basketball, and then returned to it, and then strayed again. Nikola Jokic was among the players who stayed up the latest, according to team captain Bogdan Bogdanovic.

“We have so many losses in life, so many wins, that I think we as the players learned that there’s no room for crying a lot,” Bogdanovic told The Denver Post. “There’s another opportunity tomorrow, and you’d better get ready. Because nobody will get you ready if you don’t get yourself ready. I think we had that mindset. And we were up late. We were up to, like, 6 or 7 a.m., talking.

“With friends, and being there with friends, it helps you go through these moments. That’s what we believe.”

At risk of missing the medal podium altogether, Serbia tipped off again 28 hours later against Germany. What happened next for the close-knit national team was a blur of legendary proportions — 10 hours to kill between redemption and coronation, thanks to the awkward morning start time and the interval between Serbia’s game and the gold medal showdown. Ten hours to celebrate.

Jokic’s summer with the national team ended in glory, even after Team USA’s 17-point comeback that he described as the “hardest defeat” of his career. After medaling, the Nuggets center and his countrymen were turned loose in Paris until it was time to return to Accor Arena that night looking noticeably tipsy at the medal ceremony. Jokic will reunite with one of those friends, Bogdanovic, when the Nuggets take on the Hawks this Sunday in Atlanta.

The following is an oral history of Aug. 10, the day Jokic and Serbia won bronze and enjoyed a party for the ages:

Bogdanovic: “Before the game against Germany, it was like, ‘Yo, let’s win this game, and we have the rest of the day free.’ It’s early, but let’s wake up, let’s get this game, and then we have the rest of the day to spend with our family. We don’t know what we’re going to do. And everything after that happened spontaneously.”

Ognjen “Ogi” Stojakovic, Nuggets and Team Serbia assistant coach: “If we win that game, we are going to celebrate. Personally, I didn’t care how we were going to celebrate.”

Jokic finished the tournament with a triple-double: 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. Bogdanovic scored 16 points, shooting 3 for 4 from the perimeter. Serbia won, 93-83. The bus ride back to the hotel was joyous. The players chanted a song for 74-year-old head coach Svetislav “Kari” Pesic.

Stojakovic: “Players came up with that song last year when we were at the (FIBA) World Cup. They came up with that. They twisted the song … ‘Kari’s on fire, la la la la la.’”

Nikola Jovic, Miami Heat and Team Serbia forward: “There’s a soccer player, (Aleksandar) Mitrovic, who plays for the national team. And there’s a song that goes, ‘Mitro’s on fire!’ That’s what we used to do back home. But when we won against Canada in the semifinal last year in the World Cup, I think it was Bogi’s idea to do that. And we just rolled with it.”

Bogdanovic: “It was a very tough game. When you win at the end, it’s an unbelievable feeling. And it was, I don’t know, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. We are taking our time celebrating, all that. But we are slowly heading to the hotel, so we are like, ‘What do we do?’ … I think the Olympic organization told us we need to come back to the podium around 11 p.m., and our bus was going to be 10 p.m. at the hotel. So we only had one obligation, which was 9:30 to be back in the hotel.”

Stojakovic: “The biggest problem was actually that we didn’t have any kind of alcohol in the arena after the game. Because it’s the Olympic Games, they didn’t allow it. My mom was like, ‘Why didn’t we think about that? Why didn’t we bring any rakija or beer or something to sneak inside?’”

There was beer at the hotel, where everyone convened for a quick team lunch. Then they went their separate ways, for a short time. The coaching staff had to attend an event at the Serbian House, the national Olympic committee’s hospitality club in the city, while the players walked five minutes to the Roberta Restaurant, which had been informed that the team would gather there, win or lose.

Alvaro Magalhaes, Roberta employee: “They called us about two days before, and we just closed the restaurant. We don’t care about medals. We care about people who want to enjoy our service.”

Jovic: “It started off slow. I mean, it had to start off slow. Everybody’s waiting for food and everything. But after about an hour, everybody was already, like, half-drunk. Players were calling their whole families. There was family there. Brothers, sisters, parents. So like, 3 or 4 p.m., we were already basically gone.”

Bogdanovic: “At that place, we said, ‘We are going to get historically drunk.’ We were joking. ‘Historically drunk, because we make history.’”

Jokic: “That was the plan. I don’t know if we made it, but that was the plan.”

Stojakovic: “When we came, players were already partying, so we tried to play catch-up. … As a staff, we were like, ‘Why did we go to the Serbian house? Why didn’t we go directly to the party?’”

Magalhaes: “We had some music from Serbia, too. There was a nice man singing around. … I didn’t know what they were singing, but it was good. Everybody was happy. Everybody was dancing. They ate very well in here, at the Roberta Restaurant.”

Bogdanovic: “We found a Serbian singer there, in Paris. I don’t know how we found him. He came and performed live.”

Jovic: “I thought it was Bogi’s sister, who found the band.”

Stojakovic: “I’m not sure who organized it. I heard that (it was) one of the players.”

Magalhaes: “Everybody was gathered on the terrace. It’s a beautiful terrace. Plenty of tables. We just served them from our completely open kitchen, here at the Roberta.”

Jason Miller, Nuggets associate head athletic trainer (who accompanied Serbian Olympic team): “Serbians party hearty and hard. I wouldn’t say I hadn’t seen it before, because I’d been over there since June, and there had been two or three episodes that were the same way.”

Jovic: “I was so tired I had to leave at, like, 6. So I left at 6, went to the hotel, slept for an hour, showered and came back at about 7 or 7:30. By the time I came back, now everybody’s shirtless. It’s just a crazy scenario. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

Stojakovic: “I was drinking beer, but people were drinking everything. Everything.”

Jovic: “I think everybody started out with beer, and then I don’t know. I had a few bottles in my arms. They just passed out bottles. Whatever you wanted to drink. You just had to drink. I guess that was the rule.”

The timeline is blurry, but the team occupied the small restaurant for about five to six hours. At one point, a police officer passing by the terrace asked for the volume of the music to be turned down. Tapas were served. “Everybody was very polite,” Magalhaes said. “They really enjoyed our service, our food and everything at the Roberta.” Then it was time to make the short walk back to the hotel, where players showered and changed into their official medal ceremony attire. They were running behind.

Bogdanovic: “We made it, like, right when the (gold medal) game was over. We almost got there late because we needed more time to get ready. And then at the ceremony, they didn’t trust us. We probably looked a little bit unorganized.”

Steph Curry, Team USA guard: “You knew it right away when you came through. They had a holding area in the back, and it was weird because they added three sections with pull-out chairs. We were in the middle. Serbia was on our left, and France was on our right. Obviously, France was sick about the game, so they were kind of down. We were pretty hype. But they were different. Serbia was a different type of energy.”

Jokic: “We felt that we were on the top of the world.”

Jovic: “We were interacting with the guys from USA because they were the closest ones to us. The guys playing for the USA were a great group of dudes. So they’re just joking with us and everything. … You just look at us, (and) we look funny as hell. We go out. We go on a stage. We feel like we were first, basically. We felt like we won gold.”

Miller: “I love that their philosophy was, with team sports in the Olympics, two medals are earned: gold and the bronze. The silver’s just handed to you for losing.”

Bogdanovic: “I remember that there was one famous actor, Omar Sy, who is from France. He acted in ‘The Untouchables,’ one of my favorite movies. And we saw him in the first row, and then another guy, Thierry Henry. One of the greatest soccer players ever, and one of my favorite players ever, too. So when we saw them, and we were on the podium and a little bit drunk. Me and my friend, we were like, ‘Man, look at these legends over there. They are legends.’”

The coaching staff watched from the baseline as players received their medals, many of them struggling to keep balance. Jokic in particular. It was the second Olympic medal of his career. He helped Serbia win silver in 2016, but that was before his MVP trophies, before his international fame. Now, he was the face of the team, with all the accompanying pressure. After leading the Olympics in points, rebounds, assists and steals, it was his turn to lean on somebody else, nearly stumbling off the podium. 

Jovic: “The greatest player ever, probably, coming from Europe. Not even from our country. The way he was celebrating, you could see that he was really emotional about it. He put everything into it. So he was like, ‘I’m gonna celebrate everything I did this year.’ He was all over the place. He was jumping up and down on the table (at the restaurant).”

Jokic: “I tricked them. To let them know. I tried to trick them to think I’m drunk. I was not really that drunk.”

Bogdanovic: “I don’t know (who was drunkest). For sure, Nikola, or the big guys. Our centers, they can drink a lot. Historically. Our bigs can drink historically.”

Magalhaes: “They were very tall.”

Bogdanovic: “At least we didn’t (screw) anything up. We showed up maybe five minutes late, but we were there. We did the whole ceremony. We respected everyone. Took selfies and all that.”

Jovic: “People from the Olympics, they were like, ‘You’ve gotta hand us the phones.’ For some reason, we were not supposed to have our phones while the medal ceremony was happening.”

Curry: “You could tell they were happy they were getting a medal. You could tell they also didn’t really want to be there because they had already had their fun, if that makes sense. And it took forever. So they were trying to hurry it up so they could probably get back to the party.”

That might’ve been the case if there hadn’t been a flight to catch the next morning. But it was almost time to go home. After a day of exultation, Serbia’s players and coaches mostly just wanted sleep. The gold medal game between Team USA and France had started at 9:30 p.m. local time. It was past midnight now. Everyone got back on the bus and waited to leave the arena. And waited. And waited.

Miller: “The traffic in Paris sucked anyway. And then we sat on the bus for like 20 minutes in the loading dock area and hadn’t moved one inch.”

Jovic: “Because the president of France was in the arena, we basically weren’t able to leave before him. So we’re in the bus. They’re saying, ‘You can’t leave. You can’t leave.’ We’re just trying to get back to the hotel. So I remember, everybody was like, ‘(Screw) this, we’re gonna walk.’ So we walked with the medals, without any security or anything. We just walked for, like, 25 minutes through Paris to get to the hotel after the ceremony. The whole team. We have medals around us. I have the flag with me.”

Miller: “Across the parking lots, across the park, and the party at the restaurant was still going with a few people, so a few stopped there. There were a few people still there, that didn’t go to the medal ceremony. … It was one big group and one last time together to kind of walk back with everybody.”

Jokic: “We’re with a group of guys that probably are gonna remember this our whole life. We’re all kind of a similar age. It was a great memory.”

Stojakovic: “All the pressure that we felt here in the Olympics, it’s done. We did our job. So it’s time for us to have some fun. It’s something they put so much effort into, and all that emotion just went out at the moment when they were celebrating. It’s euphoric, of course. Excitement. Pride. All the emotions in one.”

Jovic: “It’s a different kind of feeling when you bring joy to your whole country. It’s really a different kind of joy.”

The team flew commercial to get back to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. Other travelers passed items to the players for them to autograph. They were seated in the middle of the plane, even Jokic. “We’re all like one,” Jovic said. “If one guy is not in the business class, nobody’s gonna be in the business class.” A couple of days after their return, they celebrated on the balcony of City Hall in front of a massive crowd. And back in Paris?

Magalhaes: “We enjoyed it the same as the players. I follow most of the teams, especially the Americans, the NBA. … I keep recommending to people who walk past on the street, I say, ‘Hey, Serbian team ate here.’ We call that marketing.”

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.

WASHINGTON, D.C . — Asked to share the biggest challenges of coaching a game without multiple starters Saturday night, a straight-faced Michael Malone said, “Making sure I don’t play Nikola 48 minutes.”

When the comment fell on deaf ears, he felt the need to clarify.

“That was a joke,” he said, banging on the table in front of him like a drum set.

It was no joke three hours later, when Jokic was seated on the bench with 47 points through three quarters and the short-handed Nuggets were struggling to tread water against an opponent on a 16-game losing streak.

Jokic finished with a career-high 56, but Denver spared the Washington Wizards from their misery anyway with a 122-113 loss at Capital One Arena. The three-time MVP single-handedly chipped away at a 15-point deficit in the third, getting it to six before earning some rest. It was back to 13 by the time he checked back in. His 38 field goal attempts were also a career-high.

Without Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, the Nuggets (11-10) didn’t get a secondary scoring contribution of more than 18 points. They were outscored by 33 from behind the 3-point line, with Jokic making three of their five 3s. Jordan Poole led the Wizards with 39 points in their first win since October.

Halftime marked the exact endpoint of the first quarter of this season. Maybe that was fitting. Most of the Nuggets, with the obvious exception of Jokic, had neglected to make an appearance. He had 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting, which included a missed full-court shot. Nobody else on the roster was in double digits.

As a team, the Nuggets were out-shooting Washington by 11% because they made 23 of 30 shots inside the arc. But they made only one 3-pointer and turned it over 12 times. When Jokic buried a long-range jumper with 57 seconds left in the half, it marked the latest point in a game that any NBA team has made its first three this season, breaking a record previously held by Denver (two days earlier in Cleveland).

Perimeter defense continued to be a disaster. Poole alone made five 3s in the half for 21 points. The Nuggets lost shooters off-ball. They committed a three-shot foul 0.7 seconds before the buzzer.

They chipped away in the third. Well, Jokic did, mostly. But every time it got close, a defensive breakdown or a rebounding lapse followed. The Wizards made consecutive second-chance 3s to keep Denver at arm’s length late in the frame, forcing a Malone timeout down 91-83 despite 40 of his team’s points coming from Jokic.

Washington kept beating the Nuggets to its own misses down the stretch, finishing with 15 offensive rebounds that turned into 16 points.

With the Nuggets headed to Atlanta for a back-to-back Sunday, Murray, Gordon and Dario Saric were each ruled out in the last two hours before opening tip. Christian Braun played despite dealing with a quad injury that had popped up.

“Jamal, I think he, in the Cleveland game, maybe aggravated his hamstring. … During the course of a game, adrenaline flowing, didn’t really feel that bad during the game,” Malone said. “Was able to finish. And then obviously after the game, flying, it stiffens up.”

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.

Winner winner, steak dinner. Tonight, Texas Roadhouse is on Jamie Franks.

With a 3-0 win over the University of Massachusetts, the DU Pioneers men’s soccer team is College Cup-bound for just the second time in program history. But that’s not what the medium-rare delight is meant to celebrate.

The New York strip, defender Jason Belloli’s favorite cut, will be for his opening goal in the eighth minute of the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal on the DU campus. A running joke for the Pioneers is that whenever a center back scores, Franks owes the team a steak dinner.

The 6-foot-3 senior from Illinois freed himself at the back post on a corner, which midfielder Sam Bassett served on a platter, and barrelled into the ball, a UMass defender and its keeper. All three ended up lying down across the goal line.

He hadn’t earned steak yet this season — center back partner Trevor Wright hogged the spoils with two of his own. But for Belloli, there weren’t many better times to score his first goal of the season.

“It’s a great feeling. (Set pieces are) something we’ve worked on a lot in the past few weeks,” Belloli said. “We’ve been really determined to get some goals that way. If we can get a set-piece goal and then keep a clean sheet, we win the game. It feels great to get (a goal), but the shutout was what meant more to me.”

Belloli and the Pioneers have been racking those up, too. After a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in the Summit League final, they’ve yet to give up a goal in three NCAA Tournament games, winning them by a combined score of 7-0.

Belloli was a member of the 2021 recruiting class which Franks says was a turning point during his tenure. The margin of error, he says, is thin when making “four- and five-year decisions” on individuals. He admitted some past mistakes have made his return to the College Cup long, long overdue.

To Franks, though, it’s not about him. It’s about the building blocks he and his staff acquired and the way they’ve bound together to create what has been an impenetrable wall on defense, which can also happen to score a lot of goals.

“I think it’s always about the players. We (the coaches) are sitting on the sideline unemotional, trying to make decisions, but it always comes down to the players,” Franks said. “There’s a unique combination of skill and grit that we have, and I think that’s the difference.”

To all 2,361 in attendance at DU Soccer Stadium — a facility record by almost 500 people, forcing many to stand on the slim concourse above the north goal and some to sit on a still-snowy patch of grass behind the south goal — that combination, coupled with an unwavering team-wide belief and sense of urgency, was on full display.

So was a very simple and specific game plan: find the back post.

The Pios’ second goal came in the 43rd minute when winger Ian Smith found defender Ronan Wynne for a header at almost the same angle as Belloli’s just a couple of yards farther.

Unsatisfied with the two-goal lead, DU swung again early in the second half and came up with the knockout punch — a straightforward grounded cross from defender Dylan Akau to forward Oje Ofunrein at the back post.

The Pioneers have a thin line to toe now that they’re back to the gates of the promised land. Franks noted that eight years ago, in the program’s first trip to Cary, N.C., his team seemed more satisfied with being one of the final four than hungry to be the last team standing.

This time around, the team’s job is far from finished.

“This is exactly where we should be,” Franks said. “We’ve thought that even since last year, we thought we were going to be a team that could maybe win the national championship, and then we had some injuries and it’s just been a journey since then. …

“The feeling’s a little bit different here. We’re here to win this thing, and we believe we’re the best team in the country. We’ve thought that all season, and we’re just really excited to showcase that.”

The Pios will open the College Cup semifinals Friday against unseeded Vermont, which beat national No. 2 seed Pittsburgh on Saturday, 2-0.

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.

Those are not Christmas carolers outside Ball Arena. Those are alarms blaring.

Worried yet? Join the club. The Nuggets are Van Halen without David Lee Roth or Motley Crue sans Vince Neil. Something is missing.

Three-point shooting is the easy answer. The Nuggets are 2-15 when they make fewer than seven 3s, which most teams fall out of bed and convert in the current NBA. They don’t shoot enough 3s, they don’t make enough 3s, and they don’t defend players shooting 3s.

Nikola Jokic is having a season that conjures images of Wilt Chamberlain, inching him into the conversation of a top-10 all-time player, and the Nuggets are flirting with a .500 record. I said it a few weeks ago: the Nuggets owe him an apology.

Their issues go well beyond the arc.

All the sorrys in the world are not fixing this mess. The Nuggets look uninspired, disinterested and disjointed defensively. In 2023, they ranked third in 3-point defense. Entering Saturday’s game, they rank 24th.

And yes, it’s time to have a conversation about Jamal Murray. He is averaging 17.5 points per game while shooting a career-low 33.3% on 3-pointers and 47.5% on twos, his worst mark since his rookie season. He is a slow starter. I get it. But he looks slow. He struggles to create separation, and for long periods remains a defensive liability.

The Nuggets are a quarter of the way through their season. Coach Michael Malone has talked about this team searching for its identity. But at some point, what we are seeing is who they are: a disconnected team with a thin bench and two underwhelming max players who are more reliant on Jokic than St. Vincent-St. Mary was on LeBron James.

The Nuggets are squandering Jokic’s prime. They don’t have enough talent. Either they seriously consider a trade or they can begin growing comfortable with the idea of appearing in the play-in tournament in April.

Golden Rule: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said the golden at-bat rule — which would allow teams the ability to send any hitter to the plate at any time once per game — is a long way from reality. Thank goodness. Baseball has made necessary changes to address the pace of the game, but this idea is ridiculous. Might as well place the Savannah Bananas in the NL East and let Paul Skenes pitch on stilts while we are at it. The golden at-bat needs to go into the silver trash can forever.

NIL concerns: College athletes deserve NIL money. But it comes with side effects, not the least of which is increased pressure. Look no further than Georgia quarterback Carson Beck and Texas’ Quinn Ewers. They began the season as projected top-10 picks and now it’s fair to wonder if they will be drafted in the second round.

Walk the Line: The Broncos offensive line continues to rank among the best in pass protection. This stat is connected directly to Bo Nix. But let’s not dismiss how well the grunts are playing. It is a reminder that the Broncos should make a serious effort to keep left tackle Garett Bolles.

Mail Time

The Broncos should have kept Tim Patrick over Josh Reynolds and Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Imagine having Courtland Sutton, Patrick, Devaughn Vele, Marvin Mims and Troy Franklin. Wow. 

Jason Jones, Twitter

First, congratulations to Patrick on scoring two touchdowns Thursday night for the Lions, his first in 1,082 days after suffering ACL and Achilles injuries. It is possible to be happy for Patrick and agree with the decision to cut him. The Broncos needed to create a path for Vele and Franklin. If you want to argue that he should have stuck over Humphrey, clearly coach Sean Payton has a soft spot for the latter as a blocker, and he is five years younger.

Injuries have been not just a nagging theme but a destabilizing epidemic on the Nuggets’ frontcourt depth chart since the first game of Summer League this year, when first-round draft pick DaRon Holmes II tore his Achilles tendon.

In a heartbeat, one potential solution to Nikola Jokic’s rest minutes was done for the year. Now a second possible solution is out long-term. Three games into an eye-opening string of performances from Vlatko Cancar, he re-injured his left knee in Memphis, eventually leading to an arthroscopic surgery that was performed this week. That seemingly leaves only one player whom Michael Malone trusts to perform backup center duties on a consistent basis.

The catch-22 is that Aaron Gordon probably shouldn’t be doubling up on roles this early in the season — in the immediate aftermath of his own injury. Especially when playing the five in Denver seems practically cursed (Jokic notwithstanding). Whether for performance or health reasons, nobody can stay on the court for long.

Gordon, 29, missed 10 games with a calf strain in November after walking off the court four minutes into a game at Ball Arena. He had been listed on Denver’s injury report as having calf inflammation before that game.

“I was trying to play through something I probably shouldn’t have played through,” Gordon told The Denver Post. “The whole side of my leg was bruised. I tried to play through it. My calf just took the brunt of it.”

He says it’s the kind of pain he has played through “all the time” throughout his life. But this time, it might’ve been a duly noted wake-up call. “I’m getting older now,” the power forward said.

The only irony within that comment was its timing. It was Tuesday night at Ball Arena. The Nuggets had just pulled off a riveting 119-115 comeback win over the Warriors. Gordon was a huge part of it. He had officially returned from his injury two days earlier against the Clippers, coming off the bench on a minutes restriction and playing a heavy dose of those minutes (23) as a center. Then against Golden State, he played almost 33.

“You’re getting play-making (back). You’re getting defense. You’re getting physical rebounding. And just a presence,” Malone said. “And obviously, second half, I probably went over the minutes restriction, but we needed a win, and he said he was good to go.”

Gordon is an exceptional talent, more of a superglue guy than your standard Elmer’s brand role player. His presence in the second unit had restorative powers once again Thursday in Cleveland after Malone decided he couldn’t afford to leave Zeke Nnaji at center any longer. In the second half, for the third consecutive game since Gordon’s return, he was the five for Jokic’s entire rest stint.

“That’s something that we all know we’re pretty comfortable using him in that (role),” Malone said this week.

But how sustainable will that be if Gordon is also expected to play his regular rotations with the starting lineup? That’s where Malone likes him most: playing off Jokic. Gordon’s minutes will require some sort of give-and-take if Malone decides this is the best path forward for Denver’s frontcourt. And even then, shortening the rotation to eight can have stamina-related ramifications for the entire lineup.

Gordon’s recovery was boring, in his terms.

“I shot 1,000 free throws, 2,000 free throws,” he said. “Probably 5,000 free throws. Hella free throws.”

They paid off with a pair of game-winners in the last minute against Golden State. The more pressing question was whether his 3-pointer would be the same as it was pre-injury. And sure enough, he answered that with an early heat check on Tuesday. In his first three games back, he shot 50% from the perimeter while averaging 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

Gordon can play bully ball or the spot-up role. He can play the four or the five. He can defend a variety of positions on a team that has struggled to get stops all season. “You’ve gotta pay attention to detail. We’re (screwing) the gameplan up too many times,” he told The Post. “Just errors.” Having him back is a necessity for the Nuggets’ depth, perhaps even more so than for their starting lineup.

The pertinent question will be how Malone threads the needle between the two.

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.

Lindsey Vonn will make her return to professional skiing at age 40 this weekend in the FIS Fall Festival at Copper Mountain, Colorado. She’ll compete in Downhills and Super-G on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, according to U.S. Ski Team head coach Paul Kristofic.

Vonn’s last race was in 2019 — when she claimed bronze at the World Championships in Sweden — but her goal seems to be to return to the sport’s top level: the World Cup. Her entry in the lower-level races in Colorado appears to be with designs on getting back to the top.

Vonn was once one of the top female skiers in the world. She earned three Olympic medals — two bronze and one gold. Until 2023, she held the women’s record for the most first-place World Cup finishes before being surpassed by fellow American Mikaela Shiffrin.

Vonn isn’t the only top athlete who toiled well beyond when most call it quits in sports.

Tom Brady, NFL
Brady holds numerous NFL records after spending 20 years with the New England Patriots and then three with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He led New England to nine Super Bowls, winning six, and guided the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory in 2021 at age 43, the oldest to do so.

Serena Williams, tennis
One of the greatest tennis players of all time, she won 23 Grand Slam championships and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2021 at age 39. Her 23 Grand Slam women’s singles titles are the most in the open era, and she reached four finals after giving birth to her first child. She and sister Venus were 14-0 in Grand Slam doubles finals.

LeBron James, NBA
With his 40th birthday fast approaching on Dec. 30, James is the NBA’s career scoring leader and still going strong. He’s won four NBA championships and was named the finals MVP all four times, and has done it with three franchises — Miami, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Phil Mickelson, golf
Best known for his deft touch around the green and mastery of difficult shots, Mickelson has won 45 PGA Tour events and six major championships. His victory at the 2021 PGA Championship made him the oldest major winner in tour history at nearly 51 years old.

Randy Johnson, MLB
The 6-foot-10 left-handed pitcher was feared early in his career for his high velocity and lack of control. Johnson refined his skills over a 22-year career and pitched the 17th perfect game in major league history in 2004 at age 40, making him the oldest to do it. He won 303 games, won five Cy Young Awards, pitched no-hitters in both leagues and was co-MVP of the 2001 World Series.

Jaromir Jagr, NHL
Since joining the Pittsburgh Penguins at age 18, Jagr has been one of the greatest hockey players of all-time. He ranks second to Wayne Gretzky in career NHL points, earned while playing for nine franchises, and still plays at age 52 for his hometown Kladno Knights in the Czech league, a team he also owns. He’s played 37 seasons of professional hockey.

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.

Last December, Keegan Kelly was taking his final exams as a high school student in Auckland, New Zealand, just a short 7,300 miles away from the history books into which he’s now etching his name.

After graduating from Rosmini College — many Kiwi high schools are called colleges and run adjacent to the calendar year — he traded a warm summer at the beach for a freezing cold pitch in Colorado and a head start on his college soccer career.

This December, Kelly became the first University of Denver men’s soccer player to score goals in back-to-back NCAA Tournament games, something he couldn’t have foreseen during exam time. But for senior forward Oje Ofunrein, all it took was a couple of training sessions to spot what DU had in its freshman striker. And now he doesn’t hesitate to say what lingered in his mind for months prior: Kelly could be the next great Pioneer. Maybe even the best.

“Coming in, we knew how good he was and how good he can be. He could be one of the best forwards to ever play here,” said Ofunrein, who is already near the top of that list with 45 points and 21 goals in his career, both top-10 marks in DU history.

“I think he has that natural forward and striker instinct. He knows where to be, he has a good shot, he can finish. He’s aggressive, he can press, he can do it all.”

Pioneers coach Jamie Franks hopped on the train early on, too. His program does very little recruiting outside the States, but when the right player comes around, Franks will pull the trigger.

The aggression Ofunrein mentioned — not to mention a 6-foot-1 frame that will likely fill out over time — intrigued Franks initially and has gotten even more fiery as his confidence has grown with increased minutes and eventually a starting job on the wing.

He scored in his first appearance in the Pioneers’ season-opening 2-1 win at California. Three days later, in his first start, he scored again in a 1-0 win at No. 5 Stanford. In total, he has 13 starts under his belt.

“We thought (he’d be able to contribute) right away. For us, we knew he was going to be a big-time player from an athletic standpoint,” Franks said. “We knew he could come in and compete right away, and he’s really earned that spot and he’s deserved that opportunity.”

In past years, the program hasn’t had enough “steel” and athleticism to usher DU deep into an NCAA Tournament, according to Franks. The last time the Pioneers went past the second round, Andre Shinyashiki and Kortne Ford flaunted both on the way to the program’s first and only College Cup appearance.

Now, with Kelly leading the attack, DU is one win over UMass — a seedless team that upset No. 6 Pennsylvania and No. 11 Virginia to get to Saturday’s quarterfinal match in Denver — away from its second.

Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. But with a diving header in a 3-0 win over Gardner-Webb in DU’s NCAA opener and the Pioneers’ lone goal in a thrilling victory over No. 14 Indiana, Kelly broke new ground in DU history and became just the fourth Pio to score multiple career tournament goals. And he’s just getting started.

Winning those matches meant more to Kelly than any accolade could. In his words, “Parents care more about that stuff than I do.”

After the Indiana win, the bonus was another round of training the next Monday, since after all, this very well could be his last week with all-time great Pioneers like Ofunrein, Sam Bassett, Ronan Wynne and Jason Belloli.

Ofunrein jokingly — and to his face — described Kelly as a bit “immature” in his youth, less so now but especially when he first landed in Colorado. But like most people wish they did at his age, Kelly is acknowledging before they’re over that these are the good times.

“Another day in training is amazing; it’s a nice feeling to be able to come out here every day,” Kelly said. “Especially with these seniors, like I might not get to play with Oje ever again or any of the other boys who are out there playing right now. Everything I do is dedicated toward them.”

The national quarterfinal match will kick off at 1 p.m. Saturday at the DU Soccer Stadium.

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.