Because the Nuggets had won in the 3rd round, we did not point too much finger at the drafts in the racket of the reigning champions. Even on a placed play, the Lakers manage to go to the circle, and last night, LeBron James' teammates scored 72 of their 119 points in the paint! At the break, they were already at 44 points out of their 61 points. Enough to anger Mike Malone.
“In the racket, it’s a joke! Every time out, I felt like a broken record. All the timeouts were just saying 'racket, racket, racket'.” says the Nuggets coach. “In the third game, they scored 70 points in the paint and we found a way to win. Tonight they had 72. That's an incredible number…I don't think we had the physicality and the sense of urgency necessary. We didn’t play like it was a high-stakes game.”
Before the game, Malone said that would be his team's biggest challenge: playing like their backs were against the wall. But it's complicated when you lead 3-0, and you have eleven victories in a row. Except that Malone seems to detect a certain smugness in his players.
The Nuggets always start slowly
“It’s been four games in a row that we’ve lost the first quarter and trailed at halftime,” recalls Malone. “To eliminate a team, you can’t play a half of basketball. If we want to win in five games in front of our home crowd, we will have to be ready to play and last 48 minutes, otherwise this team will not go anywhere.”
For Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets lacked impact and response.
“They really pushed the pace… There were some easy layups. They destroyed us in the racket” confirms the Nuggets pivot. “We didn’t manage to get a shot. They also, at times, didn't manage to get their shots in, but that had more of an impact on our defense. »
As a good self-respecting jockey, Jokic is not worried about the sluggish start to the match. On the other hand, he waited, in vain, for his Nuggets to find the right pace.
“Obviously, we would like to start faster, but I learned in horse racing that the most important thing is not how you start, but how you finish. We didn't finish the match well tonight, and I hope we can do better. We want to take charge and control the match, but tonight, that wasn't the case. »
So much so that the Nuggets have never led in the score!
