The Denver Nuggets have stumbled their way into the 2024-25 season. While we are only two games into the season and it's way too early to come to conclusions, the Nuggets look like a shell of their championship-winning squad from two seasons ago.

On Saturday, Denver lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, 109-104. At one point the Clippers had an 18-point lead, and the Nuggets were able to close the gap. But unfortunately, due to some missed shots and errant passes, LA would hold on to secure their first win of the season.

Despite the loss, Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray remained optimistic in his postgame presser.

“I think we're gradually getting better,” said Murray. “It's just not translating to wins yet. But our effort was there.”

The Nuggets currently sit at 0-2 on the season and will soon hit the road for a three-game road trip. Even though they're winless, the team is confident they've made improvements and that things will get turned around soon.

“We took strides today. It's not always going to go our way,” said Murray. “I think guys that have been writing here long enough, have been here long enough, know what this team is capable of, so there shouldn't be too much worry, too much doubt in us. Guys are playing and will keep figuring it out and get better.”

Nuggets still trying to figure it out

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Thankfully for Denver, it is still very early in the season and there is still plenty of time to get things cleaned up. There are new players on the team, sloppy shooting and turnovers, and more. However, according to Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, these are some of the growing pains he expects his team to shake off.

“These are all things that we can clean up and hopefully we can start off in Toronto doing that,” said Malone. “We're trying to implement two new players and veterans, Russell Westbrook and Dario Saric. Peyton Watson missed the entire preseason, not just five games, but he missed the entire preseason, practice block, everything. Obviously we gotta get Peyton going. He can't have a game with zero rebounds. … It’s not the start that we wanted, but it’s our reality. So embrace it, and let’s try to go on the road and kind of get this s****y taste out of our mouths.”

Nikola Jokic had himself a spectacular game, and nearly willed Denver to a win by himself. He dropped a whopping 40 points and made a career-high seven three-pointers. For the second consecutive game, the Nuggets struggled early from three. Jokic took matters into his own hands, and started throwing up the long-range shots.

“Just because I scored 40 today, that doesn't mean I played good,” said Jokic. “I think we all need to be better. I think we don't need to question my patience, because I'm with the guys. I'm not separate from them. Just because I score a lot doesn't mean that I played good or I played bad. I think we all need to be better.”

Denver will face the Raptors in Toronto on Monday.