After starting the season 1-3, a few Denver Nuggets weaknesses have come to light. They have struggled to shoot and rebound, but most importantly, they have struggled to defend. Last season, defense was a clear issue for the Nuggets, as they ranked 21st in the league in defensive rating, and this season it has not improved at all.

The Nuggets gave up 134 points to the Golden State Warriors on Monday night, and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic got brutally honest about the team's defense.

"I’m not surprised. Last year we were pointing something in defense, so I don’t know, it cannot happen overnight," Jokic said about the Nuggets' defense, per TalkBasket. "To be honest, everything. We cannot defend."

Nikola Jokic calls out the Nuggets’ defense:

“We cannot defend.”

(Via @TalkBasket ) pic.twitter.com/T0idGHJa6A

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 27, 2026

Jokic is stating the obvious here, at least in the eyes of Nuggets fans who can confidently say this team's defense has not been good.

Nuggets' defensive woes

After looking solid in the season opener, giving up just 96 points to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver's defense has struggled. The New Orleans Pelicans scored 135 points in an overtime battle, while the Warriors had 134 in regulation.

Through three games, the Nuggets have the league's fifth-worst defensive rating. Obviously, it is a small sample size, and we should not overreact after just one week, but things are not looking good so far.

In Monday's 20-point loss to Golden State, the Nuggets could not defend anywhere on the court. The Warriors shot 54% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. Sure, it is never good when the opposing team is scorching, but the Nuggets did themselves no favors with the easy looks they gave up.

Can anything save the Denver Nuggets defense??? pic.twitter.com/OVJ4z9Pz4g

— Collin Hatfield (@chs__x) October 27, 2026

How can they improve?

First and foremost, the Nuggets need to get healthy. They are a better defensive team when they are at full strength, especially with key defenders like Alpha Diallo, Spencer Jones, and Cameron Johnson sidelined.

However, personnel is not the only issue. The Nuggets have been a bad defensive team for the last five halves of basketball, and it is clear that they have structural concerns. Even when they have a full-strength lineup, which will hopefully be soon, it comes down to proper adjustments by the coaching staff. So far this season, David Adelman has not impressed, and he needs to figure things out sooner rather than later.

Granted, it does not help when the team's two best players are negative defenders. Both Jokic and Jamal Murray struggle on that side of the ball, so they try to surround the All-Star duo with viable defenders. After the loss, Murray also admitted that the team needs to improve defensively.

"Our offense has been for years that tone-setter. Just a lot of firepower and teams have to keep up with us, trying to stop us. This year and a couple recent years, we’ve gotta focus on defense. … We have to have a better awareness and not even effort, just more skill," he said, per The Denver Post's Bennett Durando.

The Nuggets will try to bounce back on Wednesday against the Pelicans and hopefully have a better defensive outing.