Beefing and moaning won’t win the Nuggets a championship.

This team talks tougher than it plays.

On a Sunday when the Nuggets got their butts handed to them in a 117-108 home loss to Minnesota, David Adelman was still fussing and fuming about a foul so flagrant by Oklahoma City guard Lu Dort it messed with the mind of Denver’s coach more than 36 hours after the down-and-dirty act.

Before tipoff of a crucial regular-season game against the Timberwolves, Adelman belatedly griped about Dort’s dangerous hip check on Denver center Nikola Jokic during a game on Friday night.

“That was malicious,” Adelman said. “It was a cheap shot.”

So what are the Nuggets going to do about it?

Bellyache?

Or commit to throwing the first punch in a fight?

Is Adelman reduced to whining that the whistle’s not fair to Joker?

Well, that’s a piece of basketball injustice not likely to change anytime soon for a 6-foot-11, 285-pound center, NBA referees long ago decided can take care of himself.

Yes, Jokic and his teammates do have a score to settle with Dirty Lu and the Thunder. It’s a battle, however, that can’t be resolved by a war of words, especially after Adelman has two nights to sleep on it.

The only way Denver can get the last laugh is to kiss OKC goodbye and run the defending champs out of the NBA playoffs.

But first, the Nuggets must earn their postseason rematch with the Thunder, which eliminated Denver in seven games last spring.

And that now appears to be far from a certainty after a disheartening home loss, which dropped the Nuggets to fifth place in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.

As a long season turns toward the stretch run, should we have legit concern about how much this team has left in the tank to improve its seeding for the playoffs?

“I think it’s a good thing to happen,” said Jokic, who believes a little panic might not be a bad thing for the Nuggets. “We’re going to start worrying and care probably more.”

The bright side of a slow slide down the conference standings?

Maybe the last thing Denver wants is a homecourt advantage in any playoff series, seeing as the Nuggets’ record in Ball Arena this season is an embarrassing 16-12.

“For sure, it’s frustrating. It’s uncharacteristic,” Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said. “But it’s OK. It’s OK. Once we get healthy and figure it out …”

I’m so old that I remember when playing at 5,280 feet above sea level was a reliable lung-burning advantage for Denver, no matter what five Nuggets were in the lineup.

Well, against Minnesota, Adelman’s bunch was run and gunned into the ground. The Timberwolves had a hard-to-fathom 30-6 advantage in fastbreak points.

After missing a shot, it’s no time to mope.

That’s the definition of non-competitive.

“I think we’ve been extremely competitive, I really do,” said Adelman, citing both a recent home win against Boston and an overtime loss on the road in OKC. “I’ve been proud of how hard these guys have played.”    

When push comes to shove, however, do these Nuggets have enough fight in them to keep from being bullied?

Dort is an ornery SOB. He’ll get under your skin. And, if given a chance, maybe take out your knee.

That’s a level of physicality I’m afraid nobody currently wearing a Denver uniform is prepared to match, outside of Joker when he gets that Freddy Krueger look in his eyes.

The Nuggets do not have enough bad men who hit first and ask forgiveness later.

Could the return of power forward Aaron Gordon restore some icky thump that this team so desperately needs?

While Jokic is perennially MVP-worthy and Murray richly deserved his first trip to the All-Star Game, Gordon is the beating heart in the Nuggets’ fighting spirit.

Hamstrung by two different hamstring injuries, Gordon has missed 15 straight games, and his selfless play has been available only to Adelman in 23 of the team’s 61 contests.

“We haven’t had our starting five … for really all season,” Murray said.

OK, there might not be a team in the whole wild West better equipped to take out Oklahoma City in a seven-game series if the Adelman ever sees the core of this team’s championship DNA together on the floor.

But at this moment, Denver has far bigger concerns than revenge on Dirty Lu and the Thunder.

Nobody’s going to feel sorry for the Nuggets if poor health burdens them with the sixth seed and a near-impossible path to the NBA Finals. It’s too late to use injuries as an excuse.

I don’t want to hear about Cam Johnson’s achy ankle. Enough already. With this team, it’s always something. 

If the Nuggets don’t stop feeling sorry for themselves in a big hurry, Jokic and Murray will be on summer vacation before April turns to May.

Listen to Jokic.

It’s time to start worrying.