Nuggets ‘testing the refs’ with more aggressive defense, Nikola Jokic says

Toronto Raptors’ Jamal Shead (23) turns away from Denver Nuggets’ Bruce Brown (11) during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game in Vancouver, B.C., Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)That old adage about the NBA being a copycat league has aged into cliché at this point. But that doesn’t make it any less true.

One variable the Nuggets seem to be copying as a new season nears: Defensive physicality and the art of almost fouling. It’s an art mastered by the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

“We are trying to be aggressive,” Nikola Jokic said Friday at Ball Arena. “We’re trying to be, like, close to a foul — testing the refs to call the fouls. That’s…