Leading the West for a long time, the Nuggets have slackened in recent days, with five defeats in their last seven outings including a series of four straight losses.
With a record of 48 wins and 24 losses, Denver already has its place in the playoffs, but first place is still not secure. Indeed, the teammates of Nikola Jokic remain under threat from the Grizzlies and Kings, who could end the regular season in a cannonball and take advantage of their release.
Before facing the Wizards tonight, the Nuggets took advantage of the facilities at Georgetown University in Washington to train. And Mike Malone took the opportunity to speak.
“It does not meet our requirements” launched the Nuggets coach. “It’s going to sound weird to most people, but more than wins and losses, what matters is how you play. Of course, we want to win every night, but as I told our players the day before, with 10 games to go, it’s about getting back to playing and developing the habits of a champion. We got away from it”.
The playoffs already in mind?
Installed for several months in first place in their conference, perhaps the players of Denver no longer have the lead in the regular season, and with the approach of the playoffs, it sometimes happens that we relax.
There is the fear of getting hurt and missing the big meeting, but also the desire to save money. After a year of transition, without Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr, the Nuggets want to prove that their place in the conference final in 2020 was not an accident, but the sign of a progression that will lead them to final. Title dreams are on everyone’s mind, but for Mike Malone, you have to respect the game, and therefore play the last matches thoroughly so as not to create bad habits.
“We’ve been playing at such a high level for so long that I think at that point we’re fighting against human nature” did he declare. “Guys look at the standings. We’re at the end of the regular season, and they’re like, ‘Okay, let’s play these games, but we just want to go to the playoffs’. I understand. We want to win every game we play, but the most important thing is to demand and hold the guys accountable when we’re not playing hard enough, when we’re not rebounding, when we’re not providing defensive fallback, when we don’t defend like we did”.
It is therefore for the coach to wake up his troops, without however overdoing it.
“The other side of the coin is making sure you never show that side – I’ve never done that, and I never will – ‘Hey, I’m freaking out, we’re freaking out’, because our players then start doing the same thing. You have to be demanding, demand accountability, but also stay positive and keep the guys together. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Nikola Jokic | 64 | 33.9 | 63.4 | 39.4 | 81.8 | 2.4 | 9.5 | 11.9 | 9.9 | 3.5 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 24.7 |
| Jamal Murray | 58 | 33.0 | 45.0 | 39.4 | 82.7 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 3.9 | 6.1 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 20.1 |
| Michael Porter, Jr. | 55 | 29.0 | 49.2 | 41.5 | 81.3 | 0.9 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 17.2 |
| Aaron Gordon | 60 | 30.1 | 57.9 | 35.5 | 62.0 | 2.4 | 4.2 | 6.6 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 16.6 |
| 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 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | 69 | 31.7 | 47.2 | 43.3 | 83.6 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 11.1 |
| Bruce Brown, Jr. | 71 | 28.1 | 47.9 | 36.5 | 74.5 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 10.9 |
| Jeff Green | 48 | 19.3 | 49.8 | 28.0 | 72.8 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 7.7 |
| Reggie Jackson | 10 | 18.6 | 31.4 | 29.7 | 75.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 6.1 |
| Vlatko Cancar | 51 | 15.7 | 49.0 | 40.0 | 93.8 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 5.4 |
| Zeke Nnaji | 45 | 13.2 | 57.8 | 28.9 | 66.7 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 5.0 |
| Deandre Jordan | 35 | 14.3 | 77.3 | 100.0 | 43.9 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 4.8 |
| Thomas Bryant | 14 | 11.7 | 45.1 | 40.0 | 72.2 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 3.4 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 4.4 |
| Christian Brown | 66 | 14.5 | 50.2 | 40.3 | 62.5 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 4.3 |
| Ish Smith | 36 | 9.0 | 43.6 | 33.3 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 2.5 |
| 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 | 14 | 3.2 | 52.6 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| 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 |
