Nuggets vs Hornets | FULL POSTGAME Interview Highlights – December 23, 2023
G thanks King uh that was a silly little game and I mean that in the kindest way you want a silly stat to go with the silly game Nicole yic fouls out he’s fouled out 10 times in his nuggets career do you know the Nuggets record
When he fouls out I’m going guess 10 and0 seven and three seven seven seven and three when he leaves the game early for foul trouble what’s the Nuggets record when they only win one quarter of the four that’s a great one uh cuz we’re going to throw some stats up here in the
Locker room report that are going to blow you away that’s when you know you’re a champ ship team you win one quarter and win the game yeah and look at halftime we were talking about the lack of energy um you know the second of the back to back it took him a little
While to get their legs under him in this basketball game but then in that second half all the energy all the blocks all the steals um flying around defensively um it was a thing of beauty in that second half and they just took them half a half a game to get
Themselves uh really right leading the Nuggets tonight and scoring Michael Porter Jr 22 points five three balls he’s with Scott Hastings all right Mike hey first of all great win three and0 on this road trip this was a fatiguing road trip three games and four nights how you guys
Feeling after getting done with it uh we’re just happy we came out to play you know we started off slow tonight happy to come out with the win we got to be a team that uh is just disciplined you know grinds it out that’s what we did
Tonight so it was a good road trip 3 and0 in that third quarter defensively I look like you’re tired the first half but that third quarter you guys defensively just I mean put the clamps down yeah we had to coach Malone talked to us a half time um just uh we just
Came out and wanted to play with more effort energy and really win the game on the defensive end you know Marlo said you guys had orange slices you did some orange slices at halftime that gives you a little extra energy definitely definitely got to eat the orange slices
And we got to tell you congratulations also you now moved up to ninth all time Megan threes the great Chanty bips who’s eligible for the Hall of Fame pretty good name to pass yeah man I I watched Chanty obviously I know him pretty uh pretty well so that’s definitely honor I
Just got to keep going all right Congratulations Michael Porter feeding that bucket he had 22 nuggets survive Charlotte we’re back with the lock room report after this going to start by mentioning this one simple fact the the Nuggets lost every quarter except the third that third quarter was almost historic it was so crazy what the Nuggets did
Defensively and what the Hornets failed to do offensively first of all here’s how it all worked out quarter by quarter nuggets lose the first quarter they lose the second quarter they were down six at halftime um look at the third please that I mean the beauty of that thing
Charlotte did not make a field goal for for the first 11 minutes they got a couple free throws no field goals nuggets D incredible D they missed their first 19 shots of the third quarter Chris Dempsey uh they did and it’s uh the you know credit the nuggets for um
You know being there you know look when you get a quarter like this it’s it’s some some of this is just a team missing some shots as well but the Nuggets forced so much of this stuff by being tough by staying in front of ball handlers by not allowing uh you know
Easy looks in the paint all the elements of what you need defensively they put on that court in that third quarter and look it it was needed that that first half just was they were just a little bit in the mud and so they had to raise
The energy level they did and they did it defensively they started the second half on a 17- nothing run in other words it looked at the score at halftime and said all right come on let’s go we’re the Champions let’s go let’s let’s just end this thing and they got it going
Behind that guy for the second straight game Jamal Murray in the third quarter was fantastic he he really was Joker had some passes and Junior made some buckets but Jamal in the third I mean he defensively offensively is old palth excuse me I’m going right at you we’ll
Take the layup everybody working yeah yeah no it’s um it was maybe the most fun third quarter they’ve had all season long the most dominant that’s for sure yeah no doubt about it you score 30 you give up n you know what defensively they just got in the head of Charlotte and
What they got some good looks but once it started missing nobody on Charlotte felt like they could make a shot Futures in your hands presented by The Ball Corporation we’ve seen this play out before uh we saw it in Brooklyn when Jamal Murray scored 16 against the Nets
Last night in the third quarter tonight 11 in the third quarter again he did it on the defensive end and he really brought it offensively yeah I don’t know whatever he’s doing at halftime keep doing it it is working because he is coming out um with great energy with
Great Focus um you know in each of these games uh and and look the Nuggets needed it you know they needed him to take over this team is just so much better um when he is aggressive and looking for a shot and scoring and um playing within
Himself and he did all those things in his third quarter you you know what c i just look Jo do you realize Jamal led the team in rebounding yeah 12 rebounds yeah seven of those in the third quarter Nicole yic did not go to the foul line
Until the final minute of the game finishes two of two from the free throw line 18 points 10 boards nine assists another s Bo double uh is it is he just not getting the whistle or are we seeing this right what is happening he can get a few more whistles
Uh based on his six fouls T night if he had the same foul calls he’ probably have got to the line a few more times yeah and it took him a minute yeah he um you know early in the game he kind of allowed his teammates to do most of the
Scoring and um you know before kind of getting himself into the game and um you know a lot of that was Charlotte Charlotte really swarmed him every time he had the ball in the post and it was trying to operate at all in there there were multiple Charlotte players around
Him so they did make it tough on him a little bit but um in the the end um you’re still putting up on almost a triple double and you’re leading the team all right let’s see how we did on our fanatic Sportsbook Wagers tonight the Nuggets came in as heavy heavy
Favorites as they rightfully should be Charlotte missing a bunch of players 10 and a half Point favorites that didn’t work out Jamal Murray missed his over by a point one bucket a bucket you’re exactly right three-pointer and N yic nine assists one shy of the triple you
Got to get during the break you got to get better on he’s over I was halfway right at the end of the day the team won its 21st game of the season we cared you know I mean I thought to start the game we weren’t here and uh it was amazing
That we were down six at the half um you know with the start that we had and uh you know just just challenge your guys you know what I mean to be present you know if we’re here do your job and do it with energy and do it with
Effort and uh I just told our guys how proud I was of them because they didn’t feel sorry for themselves they weren’t pissed that I you know challenged them they owned it and they went out there and we I think we got 17 straight stops
25 to O run and they had nine points in the third quarter and they shot 9% from the field um so that that was my last message to our group is you know when we play at that level you know who can beat us you know I mean but why why does it
Have to take me Challenge and and I know we’re tired I mean we’ve had a crazy schedule so I know guys are tired um but you know if you want greatness you know I mean and as readily available don’t settle for good you know and uh our guys responded
Man and I thought uh Jamal’s energy once again was great um you know you look at kcp battling through his Stinger up there and and the defense that he played tonight um so really proud of us to finish up this road trip three games and um to get the response that we did
Michael you you guys were down 14 in the paint at halftime end up winning the b in the paint I think Charlotte had eight of their blocks in the first half they’re they’re not a team that blocks a ton of shots usually what were they doing in in the first half to disrupt
You guys inside and what sort of changed in the second half for you yeah they had 38 in the paint in the first and I think only six in the paint in the second half uh and again that’s just part of the challenge owning it accepting it and
Embracing it and going out there and doing your job um you to your point they were very active flying around blocking shots that team has lost six games in a row before tonight now seven so you know you’re getting a A desperate team on top of the fact that they’re playing the
Reigning chance so you’re going to get their best and they jumped us I think it was very similar to the game here last year they jumped us and we found a way to come back and win the game um so we didn’t Panic we just started playing
Harder and uh the paint defense to your point in that second half um cuz at the start throughout the game the first 12 points 10 of those were layups and then two free throws that’s when I called my first time out and I said I’m not
Drawing up a play this is a who wants to play and you guys have a couple of minutes to show me you want to be here and um you again we got the win Michael hter B the Charlotte Post I want to ask you about Nick Smith Jr was taking a
Couple slots before you guys in the draft what did you see from him tonight yeah he played well you know shot the ball well got going a really quick Shifty guard um and made some big big shots to get them back in the game uh you know this is something that’s a
Trend that I don’t really like with that group is that we’ve had big leads and we allow the game to become very interesting and uh and obviously Nick Smith was a big part of that I think he was a five of seven from three 19 points
Off the Bench so yeah you got to give him a lot of credit with his the confidence in which he played with it was impressive coach how did you feel how would you eval evaluate your bench’s play tonight I thought they were all right yeah I mean um you know sometimes you generate
Good looks that don’t go down and so you just as long as you’re getting good looks but I thought our bench was uh was solid tonight you know and you know but for a long time you know that third quarter that group was playing so well
You didn’t want to get any subs in but then you realize these guys are exhausted they’re playing so hard you got to get some of your guys in and uh so I thought they did did did a solid job but we’ll watch the film and we
Clean up anything that we can to to help those guys out moving forward you talked a little bit about about it before the game started I think you’re seventh back to back 17 or 18 Road games whatever it is now and it is fatiguing this a tiring part of the
Season is this character building for this team as as as the season goes on you think maybe you look back in this part the season we build a little bit of character during this time you hope so I mean uh to your point I mean I don’t think anyone’s had a harder schedule
Than us and uh you know that’s just just not me making anything up that’s just black and white um and for us to to be where we are with all that and um it’s pretty incredible if if you can’t factor in Jamal’s Miss games through the injury
You factor in the schedule you factor in the fact that we’re playing you know CB and Julian and pton and Zeke you know four young players that second unit you know I really like where we’re at and uh if you can get through the stretch that we’ve gotten through to this point you
Know um you know that hopefully you can build some confidence um and build on that you know that that’s our hope as we move forward to Golden State on Christmas day just out of curiosity if you could craft the schedule however you want it would would you with the shorter
Offseason than everyone else would you prefer to sort of frontload it and get some of this stretch out of the way and not have to deal with as many back-to-backs and real games later in the season or would you prefer both talance um good question I have to think
About that one that’s a deep philosophical type question um I just don’t know like you feel like a pinball sometimes you’re home you’re gone you’re home you’re gone and um that’s why it would be nice I think we have somewhat of a home stand coming up but um yeah if
You can get through I think the key to your question is if you can get through that early to now where you have a favorable schedule maybe later that’d be ideal you know but not everybody gets through that and uh you know luckily we have a team that’s won a championship
And uh has a lot of talent and character and uh camaraderie in that locker room that was a a great question by Denver Post beat Rider Bennett durando but I’m going to play Devil’s Advocate because he asked is it good to get this out of the way well it’s good but at the
Same time the nuggets are very good in back-to-back games nobody’s played more back-to-back so far this season in the Denver Nuggets they’ve played Seven back-to-backs their record on the second night of those back-to-backs 6 and one guys that lone loss was in Sacramento a couple couple weeks ago they love beaten
Phoenix they thrive in these situations they’re very good in this case yeah you know it’s a it’s one if you can survive it it is good to get all this out of the way the question is is can you survive it and that is a big deal especially
When you have a short off seon um and you pack all these Road games in you’re in and out of town this way I mean there is a there is a real a percentage there where you could fall apart a little bit or find yourself having to really tread
Water now the are with 21 and 10 now also they have done a great job navigating all this and so now that they have done a great job navigating their way through this then yeah it is great that there’s this is all behind them but this is easier uh easier said than done
Nobody’s played more games nobody’s played more Road games and they’re only two games out of first place so nicely done all right time now for the downtown breakdown presented by star lemon lime soda the official soft drink of the Denver Nuggets three ball was working for Michael Porter Jr tonight five of
Eight from from distance what’ you notice different about a stroke yeah I shot with some confidence tonight he got some better looks and I always looking him is he not fading is he is his legs underneath that he’s kind of going forward even on these deep ones look at
That see how he’s kind of going forward I love when he gets under legs underneath him and that’s when he’s at his best when he’s floating and moving left to right that percentage drops yeah you know what he’s starting to put together here is a a stretch of really
Good games you know outside of the two for seven in Toronto um his last five games are four of eight two of three two of seven three of five yesterday and then uh five of eight today and when you’re going to start shooting we we have seen Michael Porter Jr get on these
Streaks where he is super hot scorching fire from the three-point line and I think we might be in the midst of one right now because he’s starting to stream together a lot of games in a row um of really effective three-point shooting and most of those were in the
First half and that’s the only reason why the Nuggets were only down six because they made seven out of 14 threes all right we’ll go back inside the Nuggets locker room when we come back they finished the deal they they did what was required to win I mean nobody’s
Going to write home um really specifically about the entirety of the game but the third quarter was amazing um and it was necessary because they lost every other quarter but that was so significant that it led him to a victory you know we have all these stats you know what’s another
Stat nugget starters plus 27 on Charlotte starters and Jamal Murray a big reason why let’s go to Jamal the Nuggets locker room uh yeah I mean we just we just pushing through honestly it was I was a little tired uh today but we were able
To figure it out and play hard for at least a quarter and a half and um get a job done talking about that third quarter I mean that was as dominant the defensive quarter is I think we’ve ever seen yeah I mean you know everybody’s going to be talking about the first half
And how bad we were and we know how bad we were and we know why you know so we’re able to come back out in the second half and um and just you know refocus and and lock in and and take control of the game but don’t you ever
Look at and go we didn’t play good and they only got six on us they only have six I mean for sure for sure they’re just taken differently from different angles how depending how you look at it or who you are and and looking now unofficial first half of the season
Coming up on Christmas time you guys had seven back to backs you’ve had 17 games on the road it’s been a daunting schedule you think you’ll look back on someday and go hey we good thing we got that thing out of the way yeah we’re
Looking back on it now um we got guys playing through injuries D near everybody um so you know considering our schedule and all that and um how much we’ve been on the road traveling back and forth I think we’ve done a great job and uh now we just need
To rest up refocus you know hopefully I don’t know when we have two days off but um whenever we get those two days off we’ll hopefully be able to get our bodies right and um be able to play you know full 48 minutes of uh good basketball now here you’re taking the
Youngsters out tomorrow rookies and stuff to go Christmas Caroline no that’s on that’s on um that guy right there block wi the second half by whatever and 12 more blocks yeah yeah yeah it was just awesome to see the commitment of the nuggets in in the paint I mean you
Saw the compete level um of that basketball team just just in that highlight package itself when Charlotte was going to the rim those shots were getting swatted back out and at the very least they were being contested at The Rim you just when you talk about giving
Up six points in the paint in the second half that’s why I mean you you don’t give up on you don’t allow anything easy and then you block all the rest of that stuff out of there it was super well done let’s hear from one of the Vets Reggie
Jackson how how fatiguing has this start of the Season kind of been another three games of four nights I think you had seven back to backs already uh it is what it is um we know we played the to the last stretch last year to the very ending um didn’t expect the season
Necessary probably start like this but uh I’m just proud of the way this team’s handling just a little bit of adversity for for us in season and it only test us and make us better for it they talk about that third quarter was there a part ever that you’re looking at going
They may not make a field goal this third quarter yes after a while uh when coach came back I think I one time I said that’s 11 straight stops I was very impressive so that first unit they really um they really turn their gas up
As they said they got a lot of stops they made sure they get great buckets and that’s when they push the lead um and yeah open the game up for us which kind of took care thing especially the way with Nick Junior the way he got it
Going do you ever a look at a game you say we didn’t play very good at first half we only down six we we’re okay oh definitely especially when we’re not rolling like that and I think y only had about six or eight at the time um you
You will take your chances um you never want to be in that position but you’ll take your chances around noon 12:30 they get two days off they haven’t seen two days off in I don’t long time seems like all season right um and then you get John
Mor so it’s um you know it’s it’s going to be a fun schedule you know that’s what that’s what that is and and so many of those games are at home and we’re going to start to see look the schedule will start to flip and there’ll be a
Chunk of home games um and so for the Nuggets to be able to figure things out on the road and what are they just two losses at home so you got a bunch of home games coming up it’s going to be great yeah there five more Road games at
Home so when you talk a bunch yeah a bunch is coming the nuggets have given me personally all I need uh they filled my heart so the only gift I can give is to is to give itself so I’m going to steal some gifts and offer them to my
Friends on this Christmas weekend Oh this is amazing say goodbye amazing thank you so much somebody spent a lot of time wrapping that I
Nuggets vs Hornets | FULL POSTGAME Interview Highlights – December 23, 2023
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December 23, 2023
