All the talk is about the Nuggets being in shambles after their troubling loss to the Knicks on Monday night. The team came out flat and was trampled at Ball Arena, losing 145-118 in front of the home fans.

After the game it was all about the lack of effort, physicality, leadership and focus. This was obvious when watching the game, but when it wasn’t, the coaches and players were quick to point it out in their press conferences.

It became abundantly clear that there are some problems in Denver, and Michael Malone, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic all pointed them out at length after the game. The lack of focus and effort is extremely worrying for a team that should continue to get better and improve in form as the season progresses.

But it looks more like the opposite is happening. There is no excuse to end a game like this at home against a good team. In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t a big deal over the course of an NBA season, but this has happened several times and is becoming a trend that needs to be addressed immediately.

However, there was one player on the Nuggets who was in no way lacking in effort; Russell Westbrook. Despite the way the entire Nuggets team played and was completely dominated, Westbrook gave his best until the final whistle and scored a career-high 24 points in the 4th quarter.

We should not lose sight of this even in the midst of terrible loss. All the things the Nuggets team was missing on Monday, Russ was on full display. His effort, leadership and physicality were eye-catching.

That’s exactly why the Nuggets hired Westbrook – to lead by example. On a night when no one else showed up, Russ did whatever you wanted. He was a leader both playfully and vocally – as Malone noted after the game.

On a night when it seemed like many players didn’t feel like moving, Russ was flying up and down the field. The Nuggets are being torn apart from every angle, and rightfully so. But Westbrook deserves kudos for refusing to roll over and playing hard and right for 48 minutes.