You have to see the stoic face of Mike Malone in the last moments of the meeting to understand. Jamal Murray had just been whistled for a five-second violation on the final throw-in.
A lost ball, with a little less than a second to play on the Spurs floor, synonymous with defeat for the Nuggets, because Devonte' Graham had just given his team a point back. The basket wins in short.
A defeat as unexpected as it was problematic for Denver. By losing to the weakest team in the West, Mike Malone's men fell to third place in the West. Thunder and Wolves, who have the same record (56 wins – 25 losses), have passed them.
This defeat, when his team was up to 23 points ahead, how can we explain it? Mike Malone talks about this hellish fourth quarter for his team, lost by 14 points (34-20). “ Too many 3-point shots (granted), too many feints that we jumped on… », begins by listing the Nuggets coach, in a press conference lasting barely two minutes.
“ The few times they missed shots in the last quarter, we dropped 8 offensive rebounds for 13 points », Continues the technician, whose team largely lost the battle for rebounds (49-32). He could also mention the fact that the game passed little by Nikola Jokic in the final moments. Author of a big evening with 35 points, Jamal Murray held the leather more.
Success against Wolves wasted
This setback comes at the worst time when, two days earlier, they had won the conference clash against Wolves. We thought then, given their calendar, that first place was assured. But no.
“ It's disappointing, really disappointing. We controlled our own destiny, we ruined what we accomplished on Wednesday night. So it’s easy to get involved in Minnesota. Our guys were determined, focused, serious. I don't think we had the same approach for tonight's match », Regrets the coach.
He adds pragmatically: “ We had a chance to reach first place and now, obviously, we will probably finish in third place. In the end, no matter where we finish, we know what we are capable of. We have one last match, let's try to finish on a good note in Memphis and get ready for the first round. »
First round which, if it were to start today, would see them face the Pelicans, 6th. Maybe it's more affordable than the Suns, Lakers, Warriors or Kings…
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Nikola Jokic | 77 | 34.6 | 58.1 | 35.8 | 81.8 | 2.8 | 9.6 | 12.4 | 9.0 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 26.6 |
| Jamal Murray | 57 | 31.7 | 47.9 | 42.4 | 84.8 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 6.6 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 20.9 |
| Michael Porter, Jr. | 79 | 31.8 | 48.6 | 40.1 | 83.2 | 1.3 | 5.7 | 7.1 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 16.8 |
| Aaron Gordon | 71 | 31.6 | 55.1 | 28.7 | 65.1 | 2.4 | 4.1 | 6.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 13.9 |
| Reggie Jackson | 80 | 22.2 | 43.4 | 36.2 | 80.0 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 10.2 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-pope | 74 | 31.7 | 45.7 | 40.7 | 90.2 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 10.1 |
| Christian Braun | 80 | 20.1 | 45.9 | 38.3 | 69.0 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 7.1 |
| Peyton Watson | 78 | 18.6 | 46.3 | 29.3 | 67.0 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 6.6 |
| Julian Strawther | 49 | 11.1 | 36.9 | 29.7 | 71.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 4.6 |
| Justin Holiday | 56 | 14.8 | 46.2 | 41.6 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 4.0 |
| Deandre Jordan | 36 | 11.0 | 62.4 | 0.0 | 49.1 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 3.9 |
| Colin Gillespie | 24 | 9.4 | 46.4 | 39.5 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 3.6 |
| Zeke Nnaji | 56 | 9.8 | 46.2 | 26.1 | 67.7 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 3.2 |
| Jalen Pickett | 27 | 4.5 | 42.9 | 36.0 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.6 |
| Hunter Tyson | 17 | 2.7 | 40.0 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.2 |
| James Huff | 20 | 2.5 | 60.0 | 33.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.2 |
| Braxton Key | 19 | 3.1 | 41.2 | 40.0 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
