Nikola Jokic froze. The Nuggets pivot was looking to drive Alperen Sengun into the heart of the racket but lost the ball, alone in the dribble, along the way. Tari Eason only had to use it to slam a windmill on the counterattack and give the Rockets a 15-point lead, five minutes from the end against the Nuggets.
The Serb had just lost his…eighth ball of the evening, when Mike Malone decided to take it out with all the other starters, to put an end to the match that was finally lost by 21 points (124-103). Faced with the worst team in the West, which won the last quarter 38-18, it’s a stain a few days before the playoffs.
Rebound culprits
” We started correctly and then we lost control. The whole game was in their favor. Even when we found open shots, we failed to put them. We did not take free throws (note: 10/18), they blocked our shots, we lost a lot of balls. It was a one sided game », summarizes the pivotwhich does not really explain this poor performance or his unusual “turnovers” at home.
” I thought he had a hard time », judge Mike Malone, whose star player, author of 14 points (7/13 on shots) 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks, was back after missing three games due to right calf pain. But rather than targeting this individual performance, far from the standards of his interior, the technician sees the big picture.
” We talk about it all the time, so we talked about it before the game, about keeping them out of the circle. They took 20 offensive rebounds, eight rebounds more than us (note: 55 to 47)”, sorry Mike Malonewhose team knew that Houston is the best team in the league when it comes to offensive rebounds.
“ And then, our lost balloons (note: 20), they scored 25 points with that. So it’s almost 50 points on second chances and lost balls. 62 points in the racket. They attacked us, they have the most physical team and it’s really disappointing with our effort and our approach tonight “, annoys the coach, now used to shaking his players in recent weeks.
Missed opportunity
He does not want to look for an excuse for his training in relation to Jamal Murray’s injury, thumb, from the second quarter. ” It always makes things more difficult, but whether Jamal is there or not, what does that have to do with their 20 offensive rebounds? Jamal is going to have to take 19 defensive rebounds now? The available players haven’t done their job, myself included. It’s not me against my players. »
Mike Malone calls it “ unacceptable “The performance of his Nuggets, who had the opportunity to secure first place in the West until the end, in the event of victory:” We talked about it this morning, and we really missed the opportunity. I will obviously tell them something, it’s my role as a coach. I’m not going to tell them it’s going to be okay, that’s bullshit. »
His troops still have three games ahead of them, in Phoenix, then in Utah, before the final reception of the Kings, to finish on a better note than the current dynamic of 8 defeats in 14 games.
” If we play like that, we will be eliminated in the first round. We have to be accountable when we don’t do our job. I just called our team ‘soft’ and challenged anyone to challenge it. Nobody did, ’cause we been soft tonight “, ends Mike Malone.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Nikola Jokic | 67 | 33.9 | 63.4 | 39.0 | 82.3 | 2.5 | 9.4 | 11.9 | 9.9 | 3.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 24.9 |
| Jamal Murray | 63 | 33.3 | 45.3 | 39.9 | 83.2 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 6.2 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 20.3 |
| Michael Porter, Jr. | 60 | 29.1 | 49.0 | 41.6 | 80.5 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 17.4 |
| Aaron Gordon | 66 | 30.2 | 56.4 | 34.7 | 61.2 | 2.4 | 4.1 | 6.6 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 16.4 |
| Bones Hyland | 42 | 19.5 | 39.9 | 37.8 | 86.6 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 12.1 |
| Bruce Brown, Jr. | 77 | 28.3 | 48.0 | 36.0 | 74.8 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 11.2 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | 74 | 31.5 | 45.9 | 41.6 | 82.1 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 10.7 |
| Jeff Green | 53 | 19.6 | 49.2 | 28.4 | 74.3 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 7.8 |
| Reggie Jackson | 12 | 19.0 | 33.7 | 27.7 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 6.4 |
| Vlatko Cancar | 56 | 14.8 | 48.6 | 38.9 | 94.1 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 5.0 |
| Zeke Nnaji | 50 | 13.5 | 57.6 | 26.9 | 67.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 5.0 |
| Deandre Jordan | 36 | 14.5 | 75.5 | 100.0 | 43.2 | 1.2 | 3.8 | 5.0 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 4.8 |
| Christian Brown | 72 | 14.9 | 49.4 | 37.2 | 60.0 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 4.4 |
| Thomas Bryant | 17 | 10.8 | 46.7 | 33.3 | 72.2 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 4.2 |
| Ish Smith | 40 | 8.6 | 40.2 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 2.3 |
| davon reed | 35 | 9.0 | 31.3 | 36.4 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 2.3 |
| peyton watson | 19 | 5.2 | 54.3 | 62.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 2.3 |
| Jack White | 16 | 3.2 | 43.8 | 37.5 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 1.2 |
