Jokic plays hero as Malone calls out Nuggets ‘unfair’ effort in loss

DENVER—The Denver Nuggets stormed back from down 24 just after halftime against the reigning Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks on Friday but it wasn’t enough as the Mile High Hoopers lost 123-120.

On the back of a late 9-0 run the Mavs, used their big first half and did just enough down the stretch to squeak by the Nuggets without Luka Doncic. The Nuggets, who have now lost three of their last four games, got Nikola Jokic back after he missed a trio of contests while his son was being born. Jokic tallied his 137th career triple-double, as his fantastic play of 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists gave the Nuggets a shot at their largest halftime comeback in franchise history but Jamal Murray’s struggles outdid the Joker’s magic to doom Denver.

The Nuggets are now 0-155 all-time when trailing by 20 or more at halftime, though they took a five-point fourth-quarter lead and were on the verge of making Michael Malone the winningest coach in franchise history. Still stuck tied with Doug Moe at 432 victories, Malone’s decision to sit the team’s second-leading scorer on the night and defensive stopper Christian Braun
late in favor of Russell Westbrook came into question.

“Russ was playing great. I mean his threes, just having a guy out there that can make shots and so it wasn’t anything that CB didn’t do. I just felt that Russ had it going,” Malone said about Westbrook who finished with 16 points on four made triples.

Westbrook closed alongside Murray, who ended up with 14 points but did so on lousy four-for-16 shooting. The aim was so off for the Blue Arrow on the night that a late free throw which he tried to miss actually went in.

“That’s the way it goes sometimes,” Murray said.

The way it ended is the Nuggets are likely out of the NBA Cup picture and head to Los Angeles for a back-to-back on Saturday against the Lakers before hosting a strong Knicks team on Monday.

While getting Jokic back was huge and made a difference, Denver has now split its home games with Dallas over the last few weeks with each game coming down to the wire. With Aaron Gordon still out, Malone was looking for answers all game and not just in playing Westbrook late. Hunter Tyson, Dario Saric, Trey Alexander and DeAndre Jordan all got minutes.

“I think a lot of guys exhaled because Nikola was back and expected Superman to carry the day, and that’s not fair,” Malone said. “Do your own job. Nobody’s gonna do their job. I mean, Nikola obviously showed once again why he is the best player in the world. He misses a week of basketball, three games, and he goes out and gets a triple-double and, you know, obviously a great game for him. But it’s never about the individual. We as a collective unit, myself included, you know, didn’t get the job done in the future.”

Malone: I think a lot of guys exhaled because Nikola was back and expected Superman to carry the day, and that's not fair. Do your own job. Nikola obviously showed once again why he is the best player in the world. pic.twitter.com/TkaHOpUQ1W

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) November 23, 2024