It wasn’t always pretty for the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, but they came from behind in the fourth quarter to pick up a massive 119-115 win over the Golden State Warriors in NBA Cup play.

This game didn’t have any impact on the group standings in the NBA Cup — the Warriors had already clinched the group while the Nuggets were eliminated — but all games are crucial in a crowded Western Conference. This was the fifth loss in a row for the Warriors and it was a big win for the Nuggets over one of their biggest rivals in the West.

This game was somewhat of a microcosm of the Nuggets’ season so far. The bench was bad, leading Michael Malone to yank them early during both of their stints in the game. Jamal Murray was up-and-down throughout the night, but made some big plays down the stretch. Nikola Jokic was Nikola Jokic again despite lacking energy and effort for much of the game.

All of that volatility has led to some great wins and some very puzzling losses for this Nuggets team so far this season. Jokic summed that up after this game with an honest admission about the team according to DNVR Nuggets.

“We can surprise everybody in a good way or a bad way,” Jokic said in his on-court interview after the game. “Literally everybody.”

Despite winning the NBA Finals just two seasons ago, much of that Nuggets core is gone and the depth from that team is depleted. Bruce Brown, Jeff Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are gone and the Nuggets have tried to replace their production with some younger, cheaper pieces.

On top of that drop-off in production, supporting pieces such as Jamal Murray aren’t giving Denver as much as they did a few years back. All of that has put a very heavy burden on Nikola Jokic to carry the load for this team offensively.

As usual, Jokic has met the moment time and time again. He raises the Nuggets’ floor in a way very few stars around the league do and gives them a chance to win each and every night that he’s out there. The Nuggets can barely even survive a few minutes without Jokic on the floor, and that was on display again on Tuesday night.

Jokic appeared to be lacking in enthusiasm during this game against the Warriors, and he appeared to be in a state of disarray for a large portion of the evening. His ultimate stat line was still amazing, though: 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, 38 points on 14-for-24 shooting, and 3-for-4 from 3-point range. In Jokic’s 40 minutes on the court, the Nuggets scored 23 more points than the Warriors, and in his eight minutes on the bench, they were outscored by 19 points.

Despite some of the frustrating performances by this Nuggets team, Tuesday night was another example that any team with Jokic on it can win any game and any series. If the Nuggets can get a slight uptick in production from the supporting cast, they have a chance to be a very dangerous team.