**ESPN:** [recap](https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401469302) – [boxscore](https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401469302) – [gamecast](https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401469302) | **NBA.com:** [boxscore](https://www.nba.com/game/0022201147) – [shotchart](https://www.nba.com/game/0022201147/game-charts)
||**Q1**|**Q2**|**Q3**|**Q4**|**Final**||
|:—|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|
**NOP**|**21**|**29**|**32**|**25**|**107**|[](/NOP)|
**DEN**|**17**|**23**|**30**|**18**|**88**|[](/DEN)|
**Team**|**FG**|**3PT**|**FT**|**OR**|**Reb**|**Ast**|**TO**|**Stl**|**Blk**|**PF**|**Pts**|
|:—|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|
[](/NOP)**NOP**|**38-80 (47.5)**|**13-27 (48.1)**|**18-22 (81.8)**|**8**|**46**|**22**|**10**|**6**|**1**|**24**|**107**|
[](/DEN)**DEN**|**32-80 (40.0)**|**4-28 (14.3)**|**20-32 (62.5)**|**11**|**40**|**21**|**9**|**4**|**6**|**21**|**88**|
**[](/DEN)DEN**|**Min**|**FG**|**3PT**|**FT**|**OR**|**Reb**|**Ast**|**TO**|**Stl**|**Blk**|**PF**|**Pts**|**+/-**|
|:—|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|
M. Porter Jr.^^SF|26:42|5-15 (33.3)|0-7 (0.0)|0-1 (0.0)|2|3|1|0|0|1|0|10|-23|
A. Gordon^^PF|31:31|4-8 (50.0)|0-0 (0.0)|3-6 (50.0)|2|6|4|1|0|0|4|11|-22|
T. Bryant^^C|13:49|2-5 (40.0)|0-1 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|3|0|1|0|1|3|4|-12|
K. Caldwell-Pope^^SG|28:54|1-7 (14.3)|0-4 (0.0)|3-4 (75.0)|1|4|2|0|3|0|2|5|-17|
J. Murray^^PG|35:53|6-15 (40.0)|4-10 (40.0)|5-5 (100.0)|1|4|7|2|1|0|1|21|-16|
Z. Nnaji|16:53|1-2 (50.0)|0-1 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|1|6|1|1|0|1|3|2|+3|
C. Braun|22:59|5-9 (55.6)|0-2 (0.0)|1-4 (25.0)|0|1|0|0|0|1|2|11|-1|
B. Brown|27:53|7-13 (53.8)|0-2 (0.0)|5-8 (62.5)|1|5|4|2|0|2|1|19|-5|
J. Green|30:26|1-6 (16.7)|0-1 (0.0)|3-4 (75.0)|3|7|1|1|0|0|4|5|-2|
P. Watson|1:40|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|1|0|1|0|0|1|0|0|
I. Smith|1:40|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|0|1|0|0|0|0|0|0|
V. Cancar|1:40|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|
**Totals**||**32-80 (40.0)**|**4-28 (14.3)**|**20-32 (62.5)**|**11**|**40**|**21**|**9**|**4**|**6**|**21**|**88**||
**DNP:** ***Reggie Jackson***, ***DeAndre Jordan***
**Inactive:** ***Collin Gillespie***, ***Nikola Jokic***, ***Jack White***
**[](/NOP)NOP**|**Min**|**FG**|**3PT**|**FT**|**OR**|**Reb**|**Ast**|**TO**|**Stl**|**Blk**|**PF**|**Pts**|**+/-**|
|:—|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|
B. Ingram^^SF|36:50|13-22 (59.1)|0-1 (0.0)|5-6 (83.3)|0|11|10|1|0|0|4|31|+18|
T. Murphy III^^PF|39:24|5-14 (35.7)|3-10 (30.0)|2-2 (100.0)|1|2|3|0|2|0|1|15|+26|
J. Valanciunas^^C|24:52|5-11 (45.5)|0-1 (0.0)|5-5 (100.0)|4|12|4|1|0|1|4|15|+14|
H. Jones^^SG|33:56|2-6 (33.3)|2-2 (100.0)|0-0 (0.0)|2|7|1|3|0|0|2|6|+19|
C. McCollum^^PG|37:33|8-15 (53.3)|6-8 (75.0)|1-2 (50.0)|0|0|3|2|0|0|5|23|+27|
J. Richardson|19:19|1-4 (25.0)|1-3 (33.3)|0-0 (0.0)|0|3|0|1|0|0|1|3|-4|
D. Daniels|10:26|1-2 (50.0)|1-1 (100.0)|0-0 (0.0)|1|3|0|0|0|0|1|3|-8|
L. Nance Jr.|23:07|1-1 (100.0)|0-0 (0.0)|2-2 (100.0)|0|4|0|1|1|0|4|4|+5|
N. Marshall|14:30|2-5 (40.0)|0-1 (0.0)|3-5 (60.0)|0|4|1|1|3|0|2|7|-2|
**Totals**||**38-80 (47.5)**|**13-27 (48.1)**|**18-22 (81.8)**|**8**|**46**|**22**|**10**|**6**|**1**|**24**|**107**||
**DNP:** ***Jaxson Hayes***, ***Willy Hernangomez***, ***Kira Lewis Jr.***, ***Dereon Seabron***, ***Garrett Temple***
**Inactive:** ***Jose Alvarado***, ***E.J. Liddell***, ***Zion Williamson***
||**PITP**|**2^^nd PTS**|**FB PTS**|**BIG LD**|**BEN PTS**|**TOT TOV**|**TOV PTS**||
|:—|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|
**NOP**|38|8|12|21|17|12|8|[](/NOP)|
**DEN**|52|8|8|1|37|10|10|[](/DEN)|
**Lead Changes: 2** | **Times Tied: 1** | **Gametime: 2:30** | **Attendance: 19728**
*Officials: Leon Wood, Mark Lindsay, Mitchell Ervin*
by BigHoneyBot
44 Comments
Humbled? More like embarressed. Lost all 4 quarters and were mundered.
So is Jokic and the tangerine like our version of Giannis and popcorn? Healthy food
In all seriousness do we know what the bois like to eat? I know Jokic likes carp soup and fruit. MPJ is vegan but loves bacon and starting to eat meat, and Gordon likes candy.
88 points is ass
I project the Nuggets to win 53 games and Grizzlies 52. So we keep 1st seed and go on a deep run. Shrug this one off and keep the takeaways
Malone has squandered talented youth with his inability to do anything other than ride Jokics coattails. Our bench has always been bad and always getting worse. He hasn’t encouraged any chemistry beyond Jokic. Because of his shortcomings in creating a system we lost Bones for Reggie Jackson.
Hyland has gotten consistent playing time in the last four games and has produced. He’s averaging 16.8 points and 7.0 assists in those four contests. The 22-year-old is also helping out in other categories with five steals and 13 triples over the last four games. Both Paul George (knee) and Kawhi Leonard (personal) were out Wednesday, freeing up minutes and shots. Even when Leonard comes back, Hyland has found a useful role as the season comes to a close.
So funny how emotional y’all get when I mention that was a clearly bad decision and it was created likely because Malone is incompetent.
Mal is out tomorrow per Malone. Wish he sat this game instead
I mean, for the most part defending and rebounding was a lot more solid than the score line would indicate. We we only made a third of our missed wide open shots or FTs this is a different game. Flat out, we just couldn’t find our shooting touch this game.
Isiah Thomas has lost his damn mind
The fact that Vlatko was available to play tonight and only got 1:40 garbage time while Jeff green played 30 minutes. There’s no logical explanation for why he’s been frozen out of rotation.
Can NOT be missing free throws like this
This is what happens when your teams basketball identity is 3pt shooting and Jokic. No Jokic plus bad shooting. This game was over before it started.
Sounds like KCP and Mal aren’t playing tomorrow either…
Shots from the 3 point line down to the free throws were just OFFFFF AS FUCK.
Really wish we’d tried to get Westbrook in retrospect. Holy shit.
Wasted game because we could’ve just sat everyone. Instead Jamal played 36 damn minutes and is gonna be gassed tomorrow.
We need to be locking up the 1 seed asap so they can have the last few games to rest, but now it might come down to the wire if the Grizzlies keep their winning going.
So frustrating.
I’m done with this team, see y’all next season
Tanking for the good side of the bracket, big brain 4D chess over here
This one felt like a good loss the same way our team has had bad wins.
If they hit a few more threes and free throws, the game’s close. The Pelicans are a solid team and we had a couple good individual performances, what more can you ask for when the MVP is out?
It is kinda funny that this and the Celtics-Bucks were the only NBA games on today lol
Obviously they could not hit anything but that happens, the team has looked better without Jokic (Clippers, Pacers from what I can remember) so what can you do. I think it is good for the team to play without Jokic occasionally tbh
Can’t wait to watch everyone looked gassed tomorrow against the Suns because we only rested Jokic. I seriously don’t understand how the coaching staff on this team can be so fucking brain dead sometimes.
Denver playing like shit without Jokic..is a coaching problem. Malone has had 8 years with this team and it’s the same story every time. Murray, KCP, AG, MPJ are all competent starters…and this game wasn’t competitive at all. Also Malone not holding himself accountable and saying Jokic didn’t play as the reason for the loss..is well a shit response.
There’s just too large of a sample size of bench guys that didn’t work here but worked well somewhere else. I’ve never been a Malone guy. I think he’s riding the coattails of Jokic. Denver would easily have a 120+ offensive rating with the right coach. Big season for Malone, I don’t think he’s good enough to be a championship coach but hopefully I’m wrong.
Ngl, that was one of the worst games of basketball I’ve ever watched. Poor shooting is certainly why we lost but holy hell were the officials intent upon ruining the flow of the game by any means necessary
The Nuggs have 9 games where they have been held under 100 points and Jokic has missed 6 of those games.
Malone saying things went wrong tonight because Jokic didn’t play is a L response. You get paid to coach, pretty much confirms all suspicions that’s he’s been riding Jokic coattails. What a bum so frustrating
Knew a game like this was coming for MPJ as soon as u/BroncoSquatch posted that stat smh…
Loved the effort all around, especially from the bench. The Brauwns were super aggressive driving to the rim and engaged on defense, and Nnaji and Uncle Jeff guarded Valanciunas well. That group was basically evenly matched every time they were on the court.
KCP and MPJ were ice cold, oh well the offense was a disaster. Missed a ton of FTs. Bryant looked utterly lost and soooo soft – made Valaniunas look like Shaq. I feel pretty confident he won’t play a second in the playoffs and I feel really good about Brown, Braun, and Nnaji coming off the bench. I’d like to see Cancar in the mix but will likely be Green.
Sounds like everyone will be out tomorrow. Hope clippers can take care of Memphis again or were in a bit of trouble
If you disregard the four game winning streak in order to fit my narrative, the Nuggets have now lost 6 of their last 7 games. Simply unacceptable.
I think Malone should have just told them to shoot better than 4/28 from 3, imho.
People who are saying this is a meaningless game are in extreme denial.
Games like this continue to give me the unfortunate reminder that jokic is a giant band-aid over a horribly flawed and dysfunctional system. Being First seed doesn’t correlate whatsoever to being contenders if this is how they play without their best player. Let’s ducking hope we don’t get bounced in the first round
seems like this wasn’t a fun game based on the amount of dooming
This team is the bottom of the league team without Jokić.
Ah great sounds like Murray and KCP probably need rest tomorrow.
I seriously still cannot understand how anybody actually supports Malone. The dude is a bottom 5 coach that lucked into getting a top 40 all time basketball player at #41.
Is it that hard to realize that we didn’t win this game because we flat out couldn’t find our shot? I mean Jesus, we are creating every narrative out of this loss in here when the reason is very simple.
Also amazing that people did not realize how solid our defense was and rebounding, the score line doesn’t indicate that but if you watched it was one of our better games on that side of the ball. If we just found our shot in any of the quarters this game is much closer.
Honestly dropping to the 2 seed wouldn’t be the end of the world. We’d still get home court unless Memphis makes the WCF. Do we expect that to happen? They beat the clippers/suns/warriors?
If the nuggets are healthy, they’ll be fine.
No Jok, MPJ missing all his wide-open 3s, missing hella free-throws. Whatever, not our night.
Brown & Braun were cool tough.
Truly sorry to anyone who had to watch that game. Woof
Literally the shittiest game we have played this year and my first and only game that I attended this season.
Absolutely abysmal night shooting. Never had the lead. No Joker. Fuck me
God bro BI pulling a JOKIC GOAT & getting a triple double on the nuggets. How disrespectful.
[removed]
[Michael Porter Jr in 7 games without Jokic: 15/4/1 on 42/20/67 shooting.](https://old.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/127awp1/michael_porter_jr_in_7_games_without_jokic_1541/)
I can’t believe Malone shot 62% from the free throw line. He also missed his first ten 3pt attempts. SMH my head. Does this guy even care about me?
I will find a way to cause another pandemic and get us back in a bubble for Jamal’s sake so help me god
I’m glad I missed this