The Denver Nuggets saw their season end Sunday in Game 7's blowout playoff loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, coming painfully short of their second WCF appearance in the last three years.

In a climactic head-to-head battle between the league's MVP frontrunners, Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic found himself hounded by the Thunder's Alex Caruso all game long and finished with just 20 points in the 125-93 defeat.

The championship-winning core of Jokic and Jamal Murray were swiftly humbled by a young and ruthless Thunder side, whose suffocating defense (OKC comfortably led the league in steals (10.3 per game) and forced turnovers (17.0) this past season) rivaled its explosive offense.

After getting sent home, Jokic was brutally honest in a postgame presser about what Denver needs to be a true title contender again.

"We definitely need to figure out a way to get more depth,” Jokic said. “It seems like the teams that have longer rotations, the longer benches, are the ones who are winning. Indiana, OKC, Minnesota."

"I think we played for so long in such a way, and it's hard for the guys to step up and especially play against two really good teams, Clippers and OKC," continued Jokic. "We cannot ask for somebody who didn't play maybe 20, 30 games to jump in and be good."

Nuggets teammate Aaron Gordon, who played through a hamstring sprain in Game 7, also spoke about the growing fatigue he was feeling after the series.

Compared to the Nuggets' top-heavy lineup, teams like OKC and Minnesota go at least nine deep and don't need to shorten their rotations as much. As much as Jokic would like to see his team rounded out a bit more, the Nuggets don't have a lot of high-value trade pieces or financial flexibility this offseason. Not to mention, they still have to fill their front office and figure out their head coaching situation after firing general manager Calvin Booth and Michael Malone last month.

For now, Jokic plans to enjoy his time off from the NBA as best as he knows how.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Nikola Jokic Got Candid About Denver's One Big Flaw After Game 7 Loss to Thunder.

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