When a basketball doesn't do the basic stuff, things can get ugly.
Things got ugly for the Denver Nuggets in a 123-111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.
The Nuggets fell behind early, got dominated on the boards and were outplayed off the bench.
It was all too much to overcome on the second game of a back-to-back set.
San Antonio jumped up 10-2 in the first two-plus minutes. The Spurs pushed it to a 22-12 advantage nearly halfway through the first quarter.
It was 37-29 Spurs at the end of one quarter and they had a nine point lead at intermission.
San Antonio outrebounded the Nuggets 54-33, including 14-5 on the offensive glass. And the Spurs bench was productive, scoring 47 points to 28 for the Nuggets substitutes.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic had another triple-double with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Nuggets and Spurs play again in San Antonio on Saturday, December 13 at 6:30 p.m. MST.
Postgame comments from Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.