After that Denver Nuggets a “became ashamed” 145–118 blowout damage To New York Knicks On Monday night, coach Michael Malone was adamant that this was a game he would not “flush.”
“F— that guy, no, no, we’re not flush,” Malone said in response to a reporter’s question. “You’re not flush when you’re embarrassed, you’re not flush when you give up 145 points, when you don’t play hard, don’t play hard, physicality, I’m not flush. Anything. “
The Knicks led by 12 points after the first quarter, 23 at halftime and nearly 30 on a night the team shot 60.9 percent from the floor. His 45 assists matched the single-game team record. Cleveland On 24 November 1979
New York’s 145 points are the most points scored by a visitor to the Ball Arena. Los Angeles Lakers Scored 146 in an overtime win on April 10, 2022. It was the most points by a visiting team in a regulation game in Denver. The Phoenix Suns Won 153-118 on April 16, 1991.
The loss dropped the Nuggets to an astounding 5-4 at home this season. The team tied for the second-best home mark last season at 33-8.
Jaylen Brunsonwho contributed 17 of New York’s 45 assists, had a run in the first quarter when he scored nine straight points for the Knicks. He opened the game by outscoring the Nuggets by a 9–2 margin.
Brunson finished with 23 points. OG Anunoby Scored a career-high 40 points for New York. Russell Westbrook Off the bench had 27 points for the Nuggets, and Nikola Jokic Kim finished with 22 points to go with a season-low seven rebounds.
Malone was asked what he expects from his team’s leadership in such a situation and said he needs more from his starters in particular.
“Well, yeah, I mean like Russell Westbrook, he’s vocal — but we need more of Russell Westbrook,” Malone responded. “I need Nikola Jokic, Jamal MurrayI need guys who are here to be vocal in this starting lineup. And you know we were embarrassed tonight.
“We’re 16 games in and we’re talking about effort, we’re talking about toughness, we’re talking about physicality. … And regardless of who’s in there , who’s out there, who we want to be as a team, so yeah, the leadership is going to be great, the toughness is going to be great, the physicality is going to be great, it’s going to be great to play like you do, and we didn’t do that tonight. “
Jokic disagreed with his coach’s assessment, saying, “We just didn’t come tonight.”
“It’s always a good punch in the face just to wake up,” Joke said. “Coach was right. We’re in games, and we’re always down 20 at the half. I don’t know [what’s going on]. We don’t warm up, we don’t wake up, or we don’t play hard enough. I don’t know what it is, but collectively, we need to do a better job.”
Malone said the Knicks played like a team that was losing badly. Utahwhile the Nuggets “played like we won a game in LA and we can show it tonight.”
Murray also brought up Saturday night’s game against the Lakers during his postgame news conference and how it has affected the team’s focus.
“It’s a long season. Guys have lives outside of basketball,” Murray said. “We just beat L.A. in L.A. We’ve got some people who live in L.A., so being in L.A. I don’t think there was attention from everybody, and that’s what happens when you don’t have attention. is.”
The Nuggets next play at Utah on Wednesday night.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.