The Denver Nuggets faced a challenging back-to-back series on Friday and Saturday, but they did not let that get the best of them. The Nuggets won both matchups. beating the Golden State Warriors for an NBA Cup win and defeating the Indiana Pacers the next night to extend their winning streak to four games and to move to 7-2 on the season.
In Saturday’s win over the Pacers, three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic led the way for Denver with 32 points, 14 rebounds, and 14 assists on 10-14 shooting from the field. However, after the game, he highlighted the team’s defensive efforts as the key to success.
“We are in the process of getting better [defensively]. We held the [Pacers] to 100 points,” Jokic said. “We are trying to put our hands on people and trying to control the space, and making them uncomfortable. We are trying to make them shoot shots we want them to shoot. There is improvement in that segment.”
“We are trying to make them shoot shots we want them to shoot.”
Full Nikola Jokic press conference 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/kS1RCLCTZr
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) November 9, 2025
In their back-to-back wins over the Warriors and Pacers, the Nuggets held the two teams to an average of 102 points. Of course, the Warriors were playing without Steph Curry and the Pacers without Tyrese Haliburton, but regardless, this Denver team’s defense is certainly improving.
The Nuggets currently have the NBA’s second-best defensive rating (108.1), trailing only the Oklahoma City Thunder (108.1), and allow the fifth-fewest points per game (111.0).
Jokic did point out the third quarter against the Pacers, where they allowed 35 points, which was obviously a slip-up, considering they allowed an average of just 21.7 points in the other three quarters. If the Nuggets can clean up those stretches of games where their defense falls apart a bit, then they will be a much more dangerous team for the long 82-game season.
On top of having the league’s second-best defensive rating, the Nuggets also have the second-ranked offensive rating. The Nuggets (121.1) rank right behind the Philadelphia 76ers (121.3), but the fact that they are the only team in the league with a top-five offense rating and defensive rating is certainly telling, nonetheless being top two in both categories.
Of course, it is a small sample size after just nine games, but the Nuggets are tracking to be one of the premier championship contenders this season, and their defensive improvements could ultimately be the game-changer.
