BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Reinforcements arrived in New York for the Denver Nuggets, but they didn’t play like a team revitalized.

With Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun returning to the rotation on minutes restrictions, Denver trailed for almost all 48 minutes in a 127-115 loss to the Brooklyn Nets Sunday — a reminder that even with the supporting cast more intact, winning without Nikola Jokic will continue to require an effort level above the norm.

It wasn’t even up to the typical standard at Barclays Center, in the opinion of Nuggets coach David Adelman.

“Our energy was lackluster, embarrassing, to start this game,” he said. “I thought we picked it up as it went, but the game was out of control at that point. (The Nets) started feeling good about themselves. Guys started making 3s. … You can’t come out with an unprofessional approach, and we did. Put ourselves up against it. This is the NBA. Everybody can get hot.”

The Nets did in the third quarter, piling on 41 points and more than doubling their seven-point halftime lead. Michael Porter Jr. led them with 27 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in his first career game against the Nuggets, who drafted him in 2018. Noah Clowney added 22, breaking out of a recent shooting slump with a 4 for 6 afternoon outside the arc.

“We can have all these excuses about guys just getting back,(or) the rotation is different, all that crap,” Adelman said. “But the bottom line is, we were not ready to play. And when you’re not ready to play, things like this happen.”

The first-year coach has consistently praised his team’s professionalism throughout the season, including Friday in Cleveland when he emphasized how proud he was of Denver’s effort against the odds. His postgame tone in Brooklyn, he understood, was an anomaly.

“That hasn’t been us this year,” he said. “It didn’t look like us tonight.”

The Nuggets (23-12) fell to 1-4 on their seven-game Eastern Conference road trip with two remaining. Jamal Murray played 40 minutes the day before a back-to-back in Philadelphia, where Denver will remain short-handed without Jokic, Cam Johnson and Jonas Valanciunas.

Possibly others, too.

“I’ve got to be careful with Jamal,” Adelman said. “I’ve got to be careful with CB and Aaron as well. … They came back, and I thought they showed moments that they looked good and other moments that they looked very tired. Obviously, they haven’t played in a long, long time. So there was some good and bad there. But yeah, we have to take a serious look at tomorrow.”

He also referenced Tim Hardaway Jr.’s workload after the veteran guard scored 26 points in 34 minutes off the bench.

Murray was dealing with double-teams and aggressive ball pressure all afternoon. It caused a handful of early turnovers and messed with his rhythm in what eventually was a 1 for 7 outside shooting performance, but he still compiled 27 points and a career-high 16 assists. He scored or assisted on 20 of Denver’s 30 made field goals in the first three quarters.

When he wasn’t on the court, Adelman tried to make sure Gordon was. Brooklyn’s defense showed him the same respect, often trying to force the ball out of his hands even while he was in a physically compromised state. Denver still won his 21 minutes as he went for 20 points and six rebounds, but he described himself afterward as “slow” on defensive rotations. It was his first action since Nov. 21 in Houston.

“I’ve gotta get my step back on defense,” he said.

Denver’s lack of a true center proved to be a detriment, with Brooklyn scoring 21 second-chance points. Adelman was reluctant to play Gordon — another relatively “small” option — at the five, which can be a more physically demanding position on the glass and in defensive matchups. DaRon Holmes II started at center while Gordon came off the bench and played a lot of his minutes with Zeke Nnaji.

“I think with an injury like he had and the explosion part of it with the defensive rebounding … I’ve got to put him in the best situation possible,” Adelman said. “Sometimes, it’s impossible not to have someone have to go do (the responsibilities of a center) because that’s part of the game. … So we can go there. I’d rather not do it today.”

Braun played 24 minutes but struggled, finishing a minus-23 with three points and three fouls. He hadn’t played since Nov. 12 in Los Angeles.

“My mindset was to get out there and help them. As long as I’m out there, I need to make sure I’m benefitting the team and doing things the right way, playing the right way,” Braun said. “I felt like I played the right way today. We just sucked. We weren’t very good on either end, and I wasn’t good on either end.”

The Nuggets played a 10-man rotation to account for the minutes restrictions. Julian Strawther and Hunter Tyson were the only available players on the 15-man roster who didn’t play.

Defensively, Denver tried to take away actions designed for Porter, but he managed to get to the foul line nine times en route to a double-double.

“It was definitely an odd experience,” Porter said. “I think Jamal mentioned it before tip-off, like, it’s so weird actually going against you instead of being with you. Because those are my brothers. I was with those guys for so many years, and I was with those guys more than I was with my family. … It’s cool that you can have friendships outside of basketball as well, because those are still my guys.”

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