Tag: Mike Malone

NBA fans think the Nuggets made a huge mistake not calling timeout before possible game-tying 3 attempt

There’s no way this was the best the Nuggets could do.

Despite the Miami Heat’s status as postseason comeback kings, the Denver Nuggets had a chance to match their opponents’ clutch factor in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Once the Heat took a late 107-95 lead, the Nuggets went on a 13-4 run to give themselves a chance at a surprising win.

And when Jimmy Butler missed a long jump shot, Denver — which had two timeouts and just over 11 seconds on the clock — could’ve tied the matchup and sent it to overtime at 111 points apiece.

But rather than stop the action and call a timeout to draw up a quality play, Nuggets head coach Mike Malone trusted Jamal Murray to figure something out in free-flow chaos and play the hero for his team. Murray would get a good look but couldn’t bury the shot as the Heat hung on to tie the series.

And it’s this no-timeout decision that folks from the outside looking in are questioning:

There’s something to be said about having faith that Murray would make the right decision in the clutch without any additional input or structure. He’s one of the NBA’s premier shooters and was already in rhythm with two three-pointers in the final few minutes.

Plus, if you’re the Nuggets, you might want to avoid Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra getting a chance to set his elite half-court defense. This was precisely Malone’s logic, as he explained after the game:

“You take a timeout, you let them get set, you let them review whatever play they think that we’re going to run and there’s a great chance that we don’t get a quality shot like Jamal [Murray] got,” Malone said, “which was on line and from my perspective, looked like it had a great chance of going in. And we’ve seen Jamal [Murray] make shots like that before.”

I understand the logic. I do. But everything about that last sequence seemed so chaotic from a glance and all subsequent viewings. Even if you think it’s theoretically better to trust your best shooter in that situation, trusting someone like Nikola Jokic to create something (either for himself or someone else) out of a set play is a much better idea.

Nikola Jokic had the most wholesome reaction to overhearing Nuggets coach Mike Malone praise him

Jokic’s eavesdropping paid off in the best way.

By now, Nikola Jokic assuredly understands his reputation. As the leader of the Denver Nuggets with two MVPs under his belt, he’s one of the NBA’s undisputed biggest stars. And after the 2023 NBA Finals concludes vs. the Miami Heat, he also might be the face of the next NBA champion.

But hearing someone else praise him in public, no matter how familiar they are, could be a different story. Take Nuggets coach Mike Malone, for example.

On Wednesday, Malone sat at the podium, praising Jokic’s class and professionalism while comparing him to Tim Duncan, one of the greatest big men of all time. Whether Malone knew it or not, Jokic happened to be sitting on the side during these compliments.

And, based on his animated reactions (courtesy of videos from CBS News Colorado’s Romi Bean and DNVR Sports’ Harrison Wind), the Serbian center clearly loved every minute of it:

Look at the smile and nod that come across Jokic’s face. How about that clapping as he hears the Duncan comparison? What a hilariously wholesome reaction that could probably perfectly encapsulate the kind of player Jokic is.

The Jokic brothers lifted Mike Malone into the air like a baby after the Nuggets win

Mike Malone is 6-foot-2 but the Jokic bros made him look like an infant.

The Nuggets completed a sweep of the Lakers in the Western Conference finals and no one had a funnier reaction than the Jokic brothers.

Nemanja and Strahinja are the two older brothers of Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic. They are very involved in Nikola’s career and were even part of the negotiations when Jokic signed an extension with the Nuggets in 2022.

You may remember the Jokic brothers (and their shared Twitter account) from heckling Jack Nicholson during Game 3 of this series against the Lakers or their near skirmish against the Suns in June 2021.

But the moment they shared with Nuggets coach Mike Malone on Monday may be their silliest yet:

Following the victory, Malone celebrated with the brothers for a second before the two individuals casually lifted him up like they would a small infant.

They rocked him back and forth as he had both feet fully in the air before eventually putting the 51-year-old coach back on the floor.

Note that while he looked incredibly small in this video, Malone is actually listed at 6-foot-2 and played four years of college basketball for the Loyola Greyhounds men’s basketball team in Maryland.

If that is how Malone and the Jokic brothers celebrated winning the West, we can’t wait to see what it looks like if they win the NBA Finals.

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Mike Malone revealed Nikola Jokic called the Nuggets’ plays that put away the Lakers in Game 3

“Coach Jokic did a great job tonight.”

Beyond his dangerous mix of athleticism and skill, one of the primary reasons Nikola Jokic is the best NBA player in the world right now is his on-court intelligence. On Saturday night, in the biggest game in the Denver Nuggets’ franchise history, the two-time MVP used his basketball acumen to bury the Los Angeles Lakers and put Denver on the doorstep of the NBA Finals.

How, you might ask?

According to Nuggets head coach Mike Malone, Jokic actually called the plays in Denver’s offense in the closing minutes as it reeled L.A. in for a 3-0 series lead. Unsurprisingly, Jokic understands his teammates — like working a great two-man game with Jamal Murray — and he knows what can pick apart an elite defense like the Lakers.

The ensuing stellar results straight out of Jokic’s creative basketball mind should have been predictable.

Jamal Murray’s return to spectacular shooting form is clearly not the only reason the Nuggets are the new comfortable NBA title favorites. They have players like Jokic who know the team inside and out and can keep matters humming along by themselves.

It’s a testament to their unity and the excellent coaching job Malone has done this postseason.

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Jamal Murray had the classiest move for Nuggets coach Mike Malone after playoff series win

Mike Malone was absolutely shocked by this kind gesture.

The Denver Nuggets defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 on Tuesday and advanced to the second round of the postseason.

The win was the 25th that Nuggets head coach Malone has recorded in the postseason for Denver, passing 1988 NBA Coach of the Year Doug Moe (24) for the most in franchise history.

Malone also passed Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach George Karl for the most wins by a Nuggets coach in the playoffs (21) earlier in the series against Minnesota as well.

He could potentially pass both Moe (432) and Karl (423) for the most regular-season wins in franchise history either at the end of next season or the beginning of the following season.

When it was time to celebrate after the game, once Malone was finished praising his team, it was his turn to receive some love as well.

Following Malone’s postgame speech, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray made an announcement and surprised the coach. He made the classy move to give his coach the game ball for the accomplishment.

Malone was shocked by the unexpected gesture from his team:

Malone then led his team to chant “FAMILY!” before they parted ways.

These are exactly the vibes you want to see from the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Denver will play the No. 4 seed Suns in the next round of the postseason, which begins after a few days of rest on April 29.

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5 times Nikola Jokic has made clear he truly could not care less about winning the MVP

The “ugly, nasty” debate about MVP is frustrating a lot of people, including Nikola Jokic.

The NBA’s MVP debate is one of the most well-discussed topics in sports media. But do you know who seems to care the least about who wins?

The answer is Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, the superstar who has taken home the hardware two years in a row. Jokic, widely considered the favorite for much of the season, is no longer the likely winner after a recent losing streak that illuminated his defensive shortcomings.

Based on what we know about him, however, the losing streak is likely far more frustrating than losing out on the trophy to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid.

Denver has underperformed in the playoffs, and if he is able to turn that around this postseason, that would mean a whole lot more to him than the votes to join Larry Bird as the only back-to-back-to-back MVP winner.

How do we know this? Well, time and time again, he has said it himself.

“The hard part about where I’m at right …

“The hard part about where I’m at right now is we’ve done a great job. Tim and Coach Malone and Mr. K and Josh, all of our best players getting us to this point, and now you’re inside the 10-yard line and the job becomes really, really hard,” Booth said. “But on the other side, what’s really easy is I know what Coach Malone likes. I have a feeling or a vision for the kind of guys, Nikola, Jamal or Michael would like to play with, and it just happens to be in line with my philosophy anyway.”

With that said, Cousins proved that he …

Mike Malone states obvious about Nuggets down 3-1: ‘We wish we were up’

The Denver Nuggets head coach has seen all the memes and he doesn’t think they are all that funny.

The Denver Nuggets have seen all the memes and the jokes on twitter about them setting a trap for the Los Angeles Lakers by “letting” the favorites for the NBA Championship get a 3-1 lead on them. Head coach Mike Malone, affable as he is, is not laughing.

Malone spoke to reporters on Friday about his team being in a 3-1 hole for the third consecutive series and their mindset heading into tonight’s win-or-go-home Game 5 against the Lakers, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.

“I think people out there probably think this is exactly where we want them,” Malone added with a smirk. “It’s not. We would much rather be up 3-1, but it is what it is.”

The Lakers are a little banged up after Game 4, with Anthony Davis nursing an ankle injury and LeBron James taking a knee to the thigh. However, the fact that the Nuggets have already come back from two 3-1 deficits and that they are a win away from the NBA Finals should be enough of an adrenaline boost to get them up for tonight’s crucial Game 5.

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Nuggets say they will register complaints about free-throws with NBA

The Los Angeles Lakers had 35 free-throws to only 23 for Denver in Game 4, which seems to have annoyed the Nuggets.

The Denver Nuggets are following the lead of their opponents in the Western Conference Finals in mentioning to the league that they’d like some more equitable distribution of free-throw attempts after losing that battle badly in their Game 4 win against the Los Angeles Lakers. After the result, the Lakers hold a 3-1 lead over the Denver Nuggets. Nuggets coach Mike Malone was displeased with the 35-23 free-throw attempt advantage for the Lakers, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk.

“I just know they went 35 [times] and we went 23,” Malone said. “I think late in the game Jamal Murray attacked the basket a few times where it appeared to be contact. We’ll watch the film and send our clips in. We’ll reach out to the NBA and kind of make our points noted. Whether them going through the proper channels affected tonight or not, I have no idea. The NBA does a great job of listening. You hope that next game maybe some of those fouls are called.”

The Lakers did the same thing, which is standard in the league, in hoping that LeBron James got more free-throws while he has been one of the most prolific drivers in the playoffs. The proper channels, as well as an aggressive performance, helped LeBron get 14 free-throw attempts in Game 4, which was more than he had in the Games 1-3 (10) of the series.

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