Dec 22, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (8) controls the ball against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) as guard Peyton Watson (8) defends in the third quarter at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Nuggets' One Troubling Stat Raises Growing Concern

Originally posted on Denver Nuggets on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Dec 27, 2025 12:26 PM ET

The Denver Nuggets have managed to stay afloat in the Western Conference, even with their variety of injuries, to remain one of the top-ranked teams through the first two months of the year, largely rallying behind their offensive prowess led by Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.

However, there have been moments where the Nuggets' defensive side of the ball has drawn a bit of added concern. Denver is around league-average in points allowed per game (117.2), is ranked 20th in the league for defensive rating (116.9), and without three of their top defenders in the lineup, currently lack a bit of firepower to fill out as they typically do on that end of the floor.

Those defensive deficiencies have also led to some ups and downs in defending one particular area of the floor: the corner three––which for ESPN's Zach Kram is one glaring factor of the Nuggets' defense that raises some big questions for what's to come later this season.

"At the moment, the Nuggets boast the most efficient offense in league history. But can the Denver defense hold up enough to win another title? Jokic & Co. rank only 17th on defense, in part because a league-high 12% of their opponents' shot attempts are valuable corner 3s, per Cleaning the Glass. They're making 37% of those attempts, which is about league average from the corners," Kram wrote.

Nuggets Struggling to Contain Corner Threes

While defending the corner seems like a simple enough task for most NBA defenses, for the Nuggets, there's proven to be some lapses. Part of that can be attributed to their lineup inconsistency and the up-and-down availability of their rotation; other parts can be linked to Denver's gradual growth on the defensive end as a whole, regardless of who's on or off the floor.

Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

But it's a critical, underrated part of the floor to keep in check on a nightly basis, and with a league-high 12% of those shots coming from the corner area on Denver's defense, that trend will eventually come to bite this Nuggets team if not honed in on in due time.

Over the course of the regular season, those numbers will likely even out. Once names like Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun re-enter the rotation, Denver's defense will become much more consistent and reliable on all areas of the floor. In the current moment, though, the Nuggets’ depth is being tested, and it's come with some growing pains.

The Nuggets' offense will be able to keep this team in any game on a nightly basis. Especially when Nikola Jokic is playing at his current elite level, this team is a tall task for any opposing squad to hold down. But just how strong Denver is defensively might be the difference between this team having a championship-caliber ceiling or falling just short.