Denver Nuggets head coach, Michael Malone, was not happy after their embarrassing loss to the New York Knicks. The Nuggets took a “right hook,” to the chin in a matchup where they lost 145-118. Michael Malone said the starting unit needs to be more vocal in the post-game press conference.
“Well, yeah, I mean like Russell Westbrook, he’s vocal — but we need more than Russell Westbrook,” Malone replied when asked about Westbrook’s leadership after the former league MVP addressed the team in a huddle. “I need Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, I need guys that have been here in that starting lineup to be vocal. And you know tonight we got embarrassed.
“We’re 16 games in and we’re talking about effort, we’re talking about toughness, we’re talking about physicality. … And regardless of who’s in, who’s out, who do we want to be as a team? So, yeah, leadership would be great, toughness would be great, physicality would be great, playing like you actually care would be great, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
The Nuggets are in the middle of the Western Conference playoff picture at this junction of the season. However, many facets need to improve if they want to have a chance at a top-three seed.
Michael Malone Calls on Nuggets Starters to be More Vocal After Loss to New York Knicks
Denver’s Frustrating Night
The New York Knicks came out as the aggressors right after tip-off and did not look back. They attacked the paint all night and were effective when running downhill against a porous Nuggets defense. As for Denver, they looked fatigued, disjointed, and timid when shooting shots in the paint. This played into New York’s favor as it allowed them to get into transition all night long. Not a single player on Denver finished with a positive box plus/minus rating.
Knicks star, Jalen Brunson, could not miss as he finished with 23 points, a career-high 17 assists, and an outstanding percentage from beyond the arc of 80.0 percent. O.G. Anunoby had arguably the best game of his career as he finished with 40 points, five rebounds, and four assists. He also shot 5/7 from three-point range and was scorching hot all night. Even with a hand in his face, Anunoby was hitting jump shots and making his presence felt on both sides of the floor. When it came down to it, the New York Knicks were more physical and simply executed better than the Denver Nuggets. The effort simply wasn’t there for Denver and Michael Malone was clearly frustrated by the lack of it as highlighted in his post-game presser.
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