Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone held little back when explaining his frustrations with his team’s play in their NBA Finals Game 2 loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday night.
After winning soundly in the opener of their championship series against the Heat, 104-93, the Denver Nuggets had far more trouble in Game 2. They fell behind early and their energy level was inconsistent at times throughout.
Related: NBA games today – Get watch times and odds for the next NBA Finals matchup
After a slow start in the first quarter, they roared back to nearly outscore Miami by 10 in the second, and Nikola Jokic had a monster third quarter that helped to give the Denver Nuggets their biggest lead of the game. However, they fell apart in the final quarter and looked like a different team in falling in Game 2, 111-108.
Denver Nuggets vs. Miami Heat NBA Finals: 1-1
Despite making things interesting in the final minutes, the Nuggets were sloppy and seemed lackadaisical in the final period. It was something that occurred in Game 1 and continued in the follow-up, and their head coach is getting very frustrated with his team over their erratic focus, especially on defense. Taking them to task in his post-game press conference on Sunday night.
“We are talking about effort. That’s a huge concern of mine. You guys probably thought I was just making up some storyline after Game 1 when I said we didn’t play well. Tonight, the starting lineup to start the game, it was 10-2 Miami. Start of the third quarter, they scored 11 points in [just over two minutes].
“We had guys out there that were just, whether feeling sorry for themselves for not making shots or thinking they can just turn it on or off — this is not the preseason, this is not the regular season. This is the NBA Finals. That, to me, is really, really perplexing, disappointing.”
“They started the fourth quarter 13-2. To me, the wheels really fell off to start that fourth quarter. They were getting whatever they wanted, 3s, layups, and that allowed them once again to sit back in their zone offense, slow the game down, and we had a hard time getting stops — and then we had a hard time getting made baskets on the other end.
“Our defense has to be a hell of a lot better. That’s two fourth quarters, Game 1 and Game 2, where our fourth-quarter defense has been nonexistent.”
– Mike Malone [h/t ESPN]
It will be interesting to see how the Denver Nuggets respond to their coach’s comments in Game 3 on Wednesday night at 8:30 PM ET on ABC.