Three Takeaways From The Nets' Tight Loss To The Nuggets

The Brooklyn Nets (12-34) continued a west coast road trip on Thursday night with a matchup against the Denver Nuggets (32-16).

Injuries were rampant heading into this game, as the Nets were without Egor Demin (foot), Ziaire Williams (calf), Cam Thomas (hamstring), and Noah Clowney (back). Denver would be without former Net Cam Johnson (knee), Christian Braun (ankle), Aaron Gordon (hamstring), and Nikola Jokic (knee). The Nuggets were able to overcome their injury problems, taking down the Nets 107-103 on Thursday.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the Nets loss to the Nuggets.

1. First Half Defense Not Good Enough

Brooklyn's defense left a lot to be desired in the first half. They gave up 64 points, allowed Denver to shoot 55% from the field and 67% from three, and allowed ten points off of six turnovers. Tim Hardaway Jr. exploded for 19 points in the first 24 minutes, as the Nets had no answers for the veteran guard.

This was an unacceptable defensive effort from Jordi Fernandez's team. They weren't awful offensively, but it didn't matter because the defense was so bad. And once again, Brooklyn found themselves in a halftime hole. This can't keep happening game after game.

2. MPJ's Explosive Return

MPJ is COOKIN' 🔥

already has 11 points in the first 7 minutes! pic.twitter.com/sc3TXi6udH
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) January 30, 2026

For the first time since being dealt away this offseason, Michael Porter Jr. returned to Denver to take on the team that traded him away. And he made sure his old team remembered exactly who he was and what he's capable of. Porter Jr. was borderline understoppable times, exploding for a season-high 38 points and ten rebounds on 13-28 shooting.

Coming off a then-season-high 36 points in Phoenix on Tuesday, Porter found a way to one-up himself in front of his old teammates. And the Nets needed every single one of his points, as MPJ was the only reason Brooklyn was in this game. This was another fantastic performance from a guy who should be named an All-Star this weekend.

3. Depth Didn't Show Up

While Porter was excellent on Thursday, he didn't get any consistent help offensively the entire night. In fact, MPJ was the only Net in double figures for almost the entire game. A Nic Claxton layup with just under a minute left in the fourth quarter made him the first Net other than Porter to reach double figures in Denver.

This was extremely disappointing for the rest of the roster to not give Porter any help in his return to Denver. If a few more players had just decent nights, there's a good chance that Brooklyn could've come away with a win to end the losing streak. Instead, it was another frustrating game of what-if scenarios for this team.