The Denver Nuggets suffered an ugly 102-87 loss in their home opener to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Nuggets would make many attempts to come back, but the Thunder's stifling defense would keep them at arm's length for most of the game.

Following the loss, Denver center Nikola Jokic did not make any excuses, and directly called out the team's poor shooting performance.

“We are not a good shooting team, I think. Except Mike [Porter Jr.] and then Jamal [Murray],” Jokic admitted. “All of us are kind of streaky – not streaky, but just average shooters. So, yeah. But we have something else. We can probably be better, have an advantage in some other things on the floor.”

At times, it seemed like the Nuggets couldn't even buy a basket. Consecutive shots were either air-balled or clanked off the rim. When the Nuggets kept missing shots, the fans at Ball Arena started to get a bit uneasy, and some occasional boos were heard around the stadium.

Denver finished the game with a field goal percentage of 35.7% and a three-point percentage of 18.4%. Jokic would also record his 131st career triple-double in the loss.

Nuggets not hitting panic button despite bad loss in home opener

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) talks to referee Danielle Scott (87) in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Ball Arena.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
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With 100+ point games being so commonplace in the NBA these days, any game where you struggle to even get to 100 points, and also lose, is an ugly one. To make matters worse, this Nuggets loss came in front of their home crowd, which was buzzing with excitement for the season opener.

One of the most pressing questions postgame was the lack of scoring from the Nuggets bench, who went 0-for-9 from beyond the arc. Russell Westbrook would knock down the bench unit's lone three-pointer, but would also go 1-for-6 on the night.

“I don’t think there’s any need for panic,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said postgame. “Going into the season, shooting is a concern of mine. You lose a guy like [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope], who was a 40% 3-point shooter. I thought Christian Braun was great tonight. Christian Braun is not going to be KCP. So I think we all have to understand that, which I think we do, and embrace CB for who he is. I think he played really good defense, competed, ran the floor. I thought CB did a lot of really good things for us. But no, there’s no panic.”

Braun, who is new to the starting lineup, would put up a solid performance in his first night starting this season. He would tie Jokic for the most points scored with 16. He would also have five defensive rebounds and two offensive rebounds.

While Malone tried to pull some positives from the loss, he assured that he wasn't going to “make any wholesale changes after one game and one loss.”

The Nuggets will look to get out of their shooting slump as they face the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday afternoon.