SALT LAKE CITY — Michael Malone bent his knees as if to demonstrate a committed defensive stance on the sideline. He clapped emphatically, stepping onto the court as he did so to make sure he caught Jamal Murray’s attention as the point guard sauntered back to the defensive end, disappointed in himself for not making his own heads-up play count had brought.

Because he missed the shot, the theft that preceded it faded from memory almost immediately. It was an unforgettable moment in an unforgettable game between the Nuggets and Jazz. But it was also a sign of life from a struggling defender on a struggling defensive team. That was encouraging.

After a Christian Braun dunk, Murray had guarded the inbounder and caught Utah falling asleep by deflecting the inbound pass into the air so he could catch it himself. It was his fourth theft of the night. He tried to get behind the line for a quick three-pointer to really punish the Jazz, but the shot bounced out of bounds.

“We’re just trying to get a little bit more out of it. Don’t let teams just blow everything up every night. Especially after dead balls, after free throws,” Malone said after Denver’s 122-103 win. “Try to put a little pressure on them. And Jamal reaches 94 feet and obviously got a steal and it would have been great if he had done that. But if you have problems on one end, you can find other things to do.”

The Nuggets (10-7) are still searching for a defensive identity in 2024-25, a process made exponentially more difficult by the continued absence of Swiss Army Knife Aaron Gordon. They have fallen a step behind the rest of the league and are in 17th place after 17 games. They are allowing 1.4 more points per 100 possessions than last season when they fielded a top-10 defense.

It’s difficult to tell what is an anomaly and what is reality for Denver. Even against Utah, the Nuggets started slowly, conceding 35 points in the first quarter while falling behind by 12 points. They had problems on the glass in an otherwise well-rounded victory. They allowed the Jazz to get away from the 3-point line early, jeopardizing what was supposed to be an easy win before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Then Denver calmed down, sensing the uncertainty of a struggling Utah squad. The Jazz made a lot of self-inflicted mistakes, but the Nuggets at least applied the appropriate pressure. That’s not much more than a question of effort, exactly what Malone thought they didn’t have enough of against the Knicks on Monday.

“Look at every game I’ve played and I’ve been pushing my whole life. I think it starts there,” Murray said when asked what he needs to do to be effective defensively. “Talk. Be more physically active from the start of possession. They are not allowed to easily get to their seats or set up their screens where they want to set them up. Stuff like that. So I think it’s important that as a group we’re not just one or two people, but we get everyone to do this. And we’ve had good conversations – I’m talking about this game. We did a terrible job. But we did a better job today of switching and talking, and even if there is a mistake or a glitch, we have help behind it.”

Murray was hunted by his opponents quite often. The Mavericks attacked him in clutch time last Friday, at the end of a game the Nuggets lost. This has also been a problem for Michael Porter Jr. in the past.

The 27-year-old Murray doesn’t want to be Denver’s premier backcourt defender — that’s Braun, with help from Peyton Watson — but he understands there are always some basic ways he can be useful. He has been an impressive post defender for a guard in the past. He can recover if he makes a concerted effort.

“It’s November. We’re getting there,” Murray said of the state of the team’s defense. “Obviously it’s not perfect. But as long as the effort is there and the energy is there, mistakes will happen. If you make a mistake and can still put in the effort, cover for a teammate, rotate, fight, talk.”