Last year's champions proved to be a challenge for everyone in the league still. But, the Cleveland Cavaliers did not care as they torched the Denver Nuggets. The two-man game of Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. was just not potent for a Jarrett Allen-anchored defense. Everything crumbled as the clock expired and it was during that defeat that Michael Malone knew that they had a lot to learn from the Cavs. The Nuggets' head coach even unveiled his dismay after the game, via Matt Brooks of the NBA.

“My biggest disappointment is I don't think we're playing hard enough. We got off to a pretty good start this year, but we're gonna get everybody's best,” was the assessment he made which may have been hard to swallow for the Nuggets.

Nikola Jokic only notched 18 points and 10 rebounds along with seven dimes in 28 minutes of play. Michael Porter Jr., on the other hand, was in charge of bucket-getting duties. It was not infectious nor streaky to keep them alive in this game. Porter Jr. finished the game with only 21 points.

The Nuggets' rebounding and defensive woes

“When I envision the best version of Denver Nugget basketball, it's a team that defends, rebounds, and runs. We didn't defend tonight. We didn't rebound tonight. If you don't defend and rebound, you can't run,” was also another staunch observation that Michael Malone made.

The Nuggets' 33 boards got eclipsed by the Cavs' 47 total rebounds. Jarrett Allen saw other Cavs big men like Evan Mobley and Dean Wade step up as the three combined for 25 boards cleaned up. They also committed three more fouls which gave the Cavs more chances to build their lead through the charity stripe.

Overall, the Nuggets have a lot to improve but also have the luxury of time to patch these holes.