The Denver Nuggets are down 2-1 in their best-of-seven playoff series against the San Antonio Spurs and head coach Michael Malone wants them to prove they’re contenders, not pretenders.
Malone continues to call out his young Nuggets: “I thought a few of our guys actually came out in that game yesterday like it was a regular season game, like it was just, ‘OK. Game Three in San Antonio.’ They came out with full understanding of what was at stake.” #Spurs
Last Thursday the Nuggets allowed Spurs guard Derrick White to score a career-high 36 points on 15 of 21 shooting, to go along with five rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block in 33 minutes.
White, who averaged just 9.9 points, 3.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds during the regular season, also scored 17 points in Game 2 and 16 points in Game 1. Head coach Michael Malone issued a challenge to the Nuggets ahead of Game 4.
Malone basically calling out his team: “How do we respond to (White’s game)? Where is your pride? Where is your toughness? Where is your grit? So Game 4 is going to really be like a great insight into who we are as a team, especially our young players, especially Jamal.”
Jamal Murray, who averaged 18.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds during the regular season, scored just six points on 2 of 6 shooting in 31 minutes in Thursday’s 118-108 loss.
The Nuggets clearly need more from Jamal Murray and he can’t keep getting outplayed by Derrick White. Murray has had some exchanges with Charles Barkley regarding his T-shirt choices before games but he has to be more focused on leading his team in this series, just like he did in the fourth quarter of Game 2. Michael Malone has been tough on Murray but it’s only because he knows what he’s capable of.
More tough talk from Malone about Jamal Murray: “Great fourth quarter – we win in Game 2. Well, he’s going to learn as a young kid, it can’t be just one quarter. It’s got to be every night, if you want to be a really good basketball player, especially in the playoffs”
The Nuggets finished the regular season with the second best record in the competitive Western Conference at 54-28 and they were favored to win this series because of their superior depth but they can’t afford to do down 3-1 against the Spurs.
Nuggets Roster & Starting Lineup vs. Spurs
*Notates expected starter
C: Nikola Jokic*, Mason Plumlee, Juan Hernangomez
PF: Paul Millsap*, Trey Lyles, Jarred Vanderbilt
SF: Gary Harris*, Torrey Craig
SG: Will Barton*, Malik Beasley
PG: Jamal Murray*, Monte Morris
This is a must-win game for the Nuggets and they need a few things to happen in order to even this series. First, Nikola Jokic has to be in 20-point triple-double range once again and improve on defense.
Jokic is doing his part on offense but he had a poor game defensively last Thursday and he just wasn’t able to affect White’s drives at all. That has to change today.
Also, Jamal Murray needs to be “on” from start to finish, he has to take over this game and play like he did in the fourth quarter of Game 2. Lastly, Malik Beasley or Monte Morris should replace Will Barton in the starting lineup or at least get more playing time.
Barton played well in Game 1 with 15 points in 32 minutes but he was a non-factor in the next two games, scoring just seven points on 3 of 16 shooting in the two contests combined. The Nuggets need much better production at shooting guard.
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Head Coach Michael Malone Challenges Nuggets to Play Tougher in Game 4 vs. Spurs