The Nuggets misplaced at house for the second time in 4 days on Monday, falling by a rating of 145-118 to the Knicks. Requested by a reporter throughout his post-game media session if he was ready to “flush” the sport and transfer on, head coach Michael Malone strongly pushed again on that concept, via DNVR Sports.
“F–t that, no, no, no. We’re not flushing,” Malone mentioned. “You don’t flush while you get embarrassed. You don’t flush while you gave up 145 factors. You don’t flush while you didn’t play arduous, didn’t play with effort, didn’t play with physicality. I’m not flushing something.”
Malone praised Russell Westbrook, who scored a team-high 27 factors, for his willingness to be “vocal” on and off the courtroom, however mentioned he’d prefer to see extra of that form of management from gamers who’ve been cornerstones in Denver for years.
“I would like Nikola Jokic, I would like Jamal Murray,” Malone mentioned. “I would like guys which were right here in that beginning lineup to be vocal.”
The Nuggets have been with out beginning ahead Aaron Gordon since Nov. 4 attributable to a calf damage, and Jokic and Murray have every missed a couple of video games, however Malone doesn’t view that as an excuse for a modest 9-7 document and what he views as an inconsistent compete degree to this point this season.
“No matter who’s in (and) who’s out, who will we need to be as a workforce?” Malone mentioned. “Management can be nice. toughness can be nice. Physicality can be nice. Taking part in such as you truly care can be nice. We didn’t do this tonight.
“… We’re simply fooling ourselves,” Malone added later. “Sure, (the Knicks) are a superb workforce, but when that’s the hassle we’re going to present forth, we gained’t even be near being a playoff workforce.”
Jokic agreed with Malone’s evaluation, telling reporters that the Nuggets wanted “a superb punch within the face simply to get up” and mentioned the gamers “collectively have to do a greater job,” via ESPN.com. Murray agreed that it was on the gamers, not the coaches, to determine issues out and puzzled if staying in Los Angeles in a single day after Saturday’s win vs. the Lakers would possibly’ve performed an element within the workforce’s sluggishness on Monday.
“It’s an extended season. Guys have lives exterior of basketball,” Murray mentioned, via Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports activities. “We simply beat L.A. in L.A. We’ve received some guys who dwell in L.A., so (we) stayed in L.A. I don’t assume the main focus was there from everyone, and that’s what occurs while you don’t have the main focus.”
The Nuggets are presently tied with the Suns for the seventh-best document in a crowded Western Convention and sit only one sport forward of the No. 11 Timberwolves.
