The Denver Nuggets fell 124-111 to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, an ESPN national TV game that showed how lazy and disinterested they could be.

Denver’s worst defensive effort of the season saw the Jazz score 99 points in the third quarter after winning the first three. Last Sunday, after Denver’s home victory against the Detroit Pistons, Michael Malone criticized Denver’s defense, and the Jazz took advantage by hitting a wide-open three. When not shooting threes, the Jazz exploited Denver’s interior defense for paint scores and free throws.

The interior defense struggled, but Nikola Jokic’s 27 points on 8-of-9 shooting is hard to blame. After a shaky start, Jokic nailed 10-of-12 free throws and became a prolific scorer. Unfortunately, the Nuggets were playing catch-up the whole time, and every time Jokic had a solid possession, the defense would break.

In addition to his 27 effective points, Jokic had 11 rebounds, six assists, and a steаl, but he also had six mistakes on bad passes, some of which led to Jazz fast break points.

Jokic wasn’t the main problem. Everyone in Denver, even Jamal Murray, struggled. Even though the Nuggets starting point guard scored 17 points and six assists today, he didn’t concentrate on attacking the Jazz defense. Murray struggled against Kris Dunn, his main opponent, who played a hard defense.

Murray, who started the season on fire from three, is now down to 40.9% after shooting 11-of-40 in his previous six games, including Sunday’s 37-point showing. Murray hasn’t played his all-around game like he did early in the season, and his shooting isn’t good. There are occasional defensive plays, but passing and оffensive setup are less important than before. He must improve.

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On Wednesday, Michael Porter Jr. scored five points and four rebounds in 24 minutes. Porter fired 2-of-9 from the field and 1-of-3 from three, and the shot chart was cruel. Porter attempted just two rim shots and no corner threes in key areas. The Nuggets struggled to find him all night, but Porter didn’t help by taking terrible shots. He had some decent defensive possessions, but the closeouts continue to be an issue with several open threes generated by the Jazz due to slow rotations.

Outside of those two, other shooters struggled tonight. Peyton Watson was 1-of-8 from the field, 1-of-5 from three. His three-point shooting confidence has risen, but some of his attempts tonight were excessive. Utah’s point guard defenders affected Reggie Jackson, who shot 2-of-7. Christian Braun nailed a three-pointer and went 2-of-4 from the field, but he was still a poor оffensive decision maker and playmaker.

Actually, this game boiled down to the starters not playing hard enough on both ends. Murray was a team worst minus-27 on the plus-minus front. The unit’s shortcomings were highlighted with none of the starters scoring over minus-18. It’s rare for Denver’s starters to get taken to the woodshed like that, but it happens on occasion, and there’s very little the bench can do to counteract it.

Here’s a stronger, more well-rounded effort against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.