SUMMARY
- Michael Malone claims that the Nuggets roster is incredibly fatigued.
- Nikola Jokic believes the Nuggets need to better themselves as players and coaches to in order to compete for the title.
With Nikola Jokic carrying the Denver Nuggets from a 0-2 deficit to a 3-2 lead, it almost felt like the defending champions were on pace to reclaim the throne. Having won his third MVP, the Serbian certainly had a lot of pressure on his shoulders coming in Game 7 against the best defensive team in the league.
The Denver Nuggets have been eliminated from the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/uFq6sryHZl
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 20, 2024
During the first half, the Nuggets were successful in holding off Anthony Edwards from scoring and they managed to withhold Rudy Gobert in the paint as well. However, the Minnesota Timberwolves ended up controlling the game’s pace much better during the second half to pull off the largest comeback win in the last 25 years of the playoffs. Only Jokic and Jamal Murray scored in double-digits on the Nuggets’ roster. Amongst the eight players that stepped on the floor, two were scoreless while three others scored 5 points or less.
Michael Malone claims the Nuggets haven’t had enough rest
Michael Malone seemed furious with the reporters asking him to address his thought process over the Game 7 loss. However, he eventually spoke his truth as to why the Nuggets didn’t seem as dominant as they were in last year’s playoffs. He said, “The better team won. So, I’m taking nothing away from Minnesota. But when you look at the fact that all the teams that are still playing, we played into June last year, a lot of basketball. And then we had to play our guys, our main guys, unlike last season through game 82 to secure the No.2 seed.”
Malone added, “I think guys are gassed. They’re dead tired. They gave me everything I could ever ask for. And that’s why, as much as it hurts, I will walk out of this building tonight with my head held very high. Because we competed, we fought, we gave ourselves a chance and we came up short. That’s going to happen at times.” He stated that the Nuggets didn’t have much time to rest their star players, unlike last year when they were able to hold it off during the stretch. Jokic played 79 games this season, while players like Michael Porter Jr. and a few others made over 80 appearances.
Nikola Jokic doesn’t have much hope the Nuggets would win a title again
Midway through the season, Nikola Jokic stated how important it was for him to win titles and not MVPs. However, with this season’s title hopes thrown out of the window, Jokic’s thought process seems to be slightly different. He said, “Some teams never win the championship again. So, I’m just glad that we had [the] opportunity this year.”
The 3x MVP added, “We will see, getting better personnel-wise, getting better coaching-wise… especially right now, how many talented [teams are] in the league. You need to be basically perfect to win a championship.” Jokic and Murray combined for 69 points in Game 7. The Nuggets center finished with 34 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 assists during the game.