**ESPN:** [recap](https://www.espn.com/nba/recap/_/gameId/401468592) – [boxscore](https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468592) – [gamecast](https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401468592) | **NBA.com:** [boxscore](https://www.nba.com/game/0022200437) – [shotchart](https://www.nba.com/game/0022200437/game-charts)
||**Q1**|**Q2**|**Q3**|**Q4**|**Final**||
|:—|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|
**DEN**|**32**|**33**|**23**|**20**|**108**|[](/DEN)|
**LAL**|**33**|**31**|**29**|**33**|**126**|[](/LAL)|
**Team**|**FG**|**3PT**|**FT**|**OR**|**Reb**|**Ast**|**TO**|**Stl**|**Blk**|**PF**|**Pts**|
|:—|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|
[](/DEN)**DEN**|**39-81 (48.1)**|**9-27 (33.3)**|**21-28 (75.0)**|**9**|**39**|**25**|**19**|**7**|**4**|**17**|**108**|
[](/LAL)**LAL**|**48-91 (52.7)**|**12-33 (36.4)**|**18-24 (75.0)**|**11**|**45**|**29**|**14**|**11**|**4**|**21**|**126**|
**[](/DEN)DEN**|**Min**|**FG**|**3PT**|**FT**|**OR**|**Reb**|**Ast**|**TO**|**Stl**|**Blk**|**PF**|**Pts**|**+/-**|
|:—|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|
B. Brown^^SF|34:42|4-7 (57.1)|2-2 (100.0)|1-2 (50.0)|1|5|5|0|0|2|1|11|-19|
A. Gordon^^PF|32:27|7-13 (53.8)|1-4 (25.0)|2-4 (50.0)|0|3|1|4|2|1|3|17|-10|
N. Jokic^^C|35:17|8-15 (53.3)|1-3 (33.3)|8-9 (88.9)|2|11|8|5|4|0|3|25|-14|
K. Caldwell-Pope^^SG|30:00|3-5 (60.0)|1-1 (100.0)|2-2 (100.0)|0|1|0|2|0|0|3|9|0|
J. Murray^^PG|35:44|8-16 (50.0)|2-6 (33.3)|5-7 (71.4)|1|5|6|5|1|0|0|23|-18|
C. Braun|9:04|0-2 (0.0)|0-2 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|1|0|1|0|0|2|0|+4|
B. Hyland|14:42|2-9 (22.2)|0-5 (0.0)|1-1 (100.0)|0|2|2|1|0|0|0|5|-24|
J. Green|17:03|3-8 (37.5)|1-2 (50.0)|1-1 (100.0)|4|6|1|1|0|1|0|8|-15|
D. Jordan|7:04|2-2 (100.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|2|0|0|0|0|1|4|0|
D. Reed|16:38|0-1 (0.0)|0-1 (0.0)|1-2 (50.0)|1|2|2|0|0|0|3|1|0|
I. Smith|2:26|1-1 (100.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|1|0|0|0|0|0|2|+2|
Z. Nnaji|2:26|0-1 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|+2|
V. Cancar|2:26|1-1 (100.0)|1-1 (100.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|3|+2|
**Totals**||**39-81 (48.1)**|**9-27 (33.3)**|**21-28 (75.0)**|**9**|**39**|**25**|**19**|**7**|**4**|**17**|**108**||
**DNP:**
**Inactive:** ***Collin Gillespie***, ***Michael Porter Jr.***, ***Peyton Watson***, ***Jack White***
**[](/LAL)LAL**|**Min**|**FG**|**3PT**|**FT**|**OR**|**Reb**|**Ast**|**TO**|**Stl**|**Blk**|**PF**|**Pts**|**+/-**|
|:—|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|—:|
L. Walker IV^^SF|19:48|1-7 (14.3)|1-6 (16.7)|0-0 (0.0)|0|1|1|1|0|0|2|3|-15|
L. James^^PF|35:56|13-20 (65.0)|1-4 (25.0)|3-4 (75.0)|1|9|4|2|2|0|2|30|+26|
A. Davis^^C|17:27|4-7 (57.1)|0-0 (0.0)|2-2 (100.0)|0|4|2|2|1|1|2|10|-4|
P. Beverley^^SG|20:40|4-6 (66.7)|2-3 (66.7)|0-0 (0.0)|0|4|5|0|0|0|1|10|-11|
D. Schroder^^PG|30:38|5-12 (41.7)|3-6 (50.0)|2-2 (100.0)|1|1|3|2|2|0|4|15|+15|
R. Westbrook|29:45|5-13 (38.5)|0-3 (0.0)|5-8 (62.5)|2|11|12|4|2|0|2|15|+25|
A. Reaves|29:56|5-9 (55.6)|2-5 (40.0)|4-4 (100.0)|1|4|0|2|1|1|3|16|+26|
T. Brown Jr.|13:49|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|2|1|0|1|1|0|0|+12|
M. Christie|15:56|2-5 (40.0)|2-3 (66.7)|0-0 (0.0)|2|3|0|0|0|1|1|6|+14|
T. Bryant|23:39|9-11 (81.8)|1-2 (50.0)|2-4 (50.0)|4|6|1|1|2|0|4|21|+10|
K. Nunn|1:13|0-1 (0.0)|0-1 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-4|
D. Jones|1:13|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0-0 (0.0)|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|-4|
**Totals**||**48-91 (52.7)**|**12-33 (36.4)**|**18-24 (75.0)**|**11**|**45**|**29**|**14**|**11**|**4**|**21**|**126**||
**DNP:**
**Inactive:** ***Wenyen Gabriel***, ***Scotty Pippen Jr.***, ***Cole Swider***, ***Juan Toscano-Anderson***
||**PITP**|**2^^nd PTS**|**FB PTS**|**BIG LD**|**BEN PTS**|**TOT TOV**|**TOV PTS**||
|:—|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|:–:|
**DEN**|56|6|20|12|23|19|22|[](/DEN)|
**LAL**|64|18|28|22|58|15|28|[](/LAL)|
**Lead Changes: 13** | **Times Tied: 11** | **Gametime: 2:21** | **Attendance: 18505**
*Officials: Eric Dalen, Josh Tiven, John Butler*
by BigHoneyBot
36 Comments
This was a sad game, but by far the saddest part was seeing Braun give up that baseline Westbrook drive knowing in advance it was going to result in 15+ minutes for Reed…
Mike Malone sucks. Another coaching loss
I’m finally getting to a place where I think the only way this team takes the next step is with a new coach. There’s just no reason for things to stay exactly the same or worse despite more talent. That speaks to a lack of maximizing said talent. At this point there’s only one common denominator. It doesn’t please me to say as I like the guy but still.
Watch the wizards game and youāll see the exact same mistakes defensively. Open 3s, especially corner ones, lots of shots at the rim with no one nearby, players miscommunciating or being lost. we couldnāt out score the lakers tho like we did vs the wizards and it was an embarrassing loss
Also I was laughing at our guys going over Westbrook screens and letting him get into the paint at will. Like who the fuck is going over on Westbrook screens in 2022?
We need shooting and consistent. A marksman or something
I know we’re all down in ourselves. But last year at this time, Denver was 8th and 14-13.
This year we’re 3rd at 17-11. Sure we aren’t contenders yet but we made a step of some sorts to being better than last year.
AG should demand a trade. Only player that cared while everyone else was just “what’s up homies” after the game.
Don’t remember more irritating game this season from all the actors (refs, Lakers, Nuggets, all and everyone).
Spoiler alert: They will not fire Malone mid season. It will not happen no matter how many times you type it out. It will depend on playoffs. They will not risk it in the middle of the season. Its not worth the risk. Getting a new coach doesnāt solve it all, no matter how much you gaslight yourself. But keep pouting. āš»
Thoughts:
– I have nothing against Davon, dude has been humble and a quiet worker, I really do hope Calvin trades him so that Malone has to play alternatives. 16+ minutes to a G-league guy is a joke
– Bones playing like shit could’ve sparked up some Ish minutes outside of garbage time but apparently not
– Bones + Jamal lineup was super weird, two guys who can playmake and pass the ball looked unable to find open space, zero cutters, static plays, turnover prone ball
– Jeff should work on finger rolls and putbacks
– 3pt defense is atrocious for weeks now
– Joker being stagnant on defense getting killed on defensive rebounds and no minutes for a 6’9 guy who can rebound and shoot the ball, I don’t understand whether Zeke had sex with someone from Malone’s broader family but at this point there’s got to be a question
– whoever thought DeAndre was a person to provide backup minutes for Joker is a terrorist
If weāre going to fire a coach for shit like this game, I think we should look to Saunders
How many wake up calls are we gonna need? Feels like we’ve had like 5 of those so far, even the Wizards game where we needed Jokic to drop 43 on KPless and Beal-less Wizards for us to finally get distance in mid 4th quarter.
1/3 of the season is over, and no progress. They still keep overhelping on defense and they still keep turning the ball over at an unprecedented rate. Malone’s nonsense rotations tonight were bs.
Either gonna have to make another move at deadline, or hope for a mid-season switch to happen like the Celtics had last season.
Malone or Saunders, or whoever is running these defensive schemes, needs to do better. We keep hearing promises about how they’re gonna work on it for the past 15 games, but nothing changes. We somehow manage to get worse and worse on defense every single game.
It’s tiring watching us give up so many runs when we’re capable of stepping on their neck and running away with it. We get a decent lead, we get sloppy and a few consecutive TOs lead to an opponent run without fail. Not fun basketball.
Iām not sure Malone is the guy to get this team over the hump. He did a lot to get us to where we are today, but not sure heās a championship coach and I think heās grown stale in the locker room
Stop calling us the 3rd seed. Itās completely misleading.
We are like 2-3 games from the lottery.
The fact that they lost AD and then completely blew them out is just what gets me like how does that even happen prob gonna have trouble sleeping tonight the fact that they lost their best player and then nuggets were the team that completely collapsed almost at a loss at this point
Who’s the best team we’ve beaten this season?
Is it Golden State?
Over the course of a season every team has plenty of bad losses that should have been wins and good wins that should have been losses , but the nuggets seem to accumulate only the first ones.
It’s sad that a self proclaimed contender looses so many winable games and especially frustrating with how tight the standings are , the nuggets should be at the top of the conference, nothing less… instead they take every opportunity to shit the bed.
We can point to many different things but for me one thing stands out that the nuggets under MM never played to the fullest of their capabilitys , no matter the roster, malone has never managed to get everything out of the players at his disposal.
We see rookie coaches like hardy in Utah overperform with the roster he has and there are plenty of other examples over the years how coaching gets more out of less but with malone there is allways something off …he has the expirience and he has the roster to do it, so why is he not capable to take advantage and maximize ? Or at least not underperform relative to expectations and assets he has ?
Will this team choose to stay in eternal mediocrity for jokiÄs whole career before they actually look at the coaching? The rotations , the hires he made , the X’s and O’s …what is his strengt other then comunication and relationship with the players ? Its allmost a decade of this, if a player doesnt get better in 8 seasons he gets shipped to china but malone is for some reason untouchable.
You can complain about the refs all you want, they didn’t lose us the game. Jokic didn’t miss a shot against the Wizards, starts this game with quick 10 points and then hardly touches the ball for the rest of the game. Every time we were going on a run it was due to Jokic being involved in his fucking offense and every time those runs were stopped by going away from that and Jamal or Gordon forcing shit. Idc about Murray flurries when he’s useless for the majority of the game, straight up killing momentum and then scores 15 when the game has gone to shit. Just beyond undisciplined, the entire team.
I also like how seeing that there’s a shit ton of problems with this team is overreacting. Bench is as garbage as ever and is gonna stay that way for the rest of the season. They keep losing their minutes against nobodies, despite the stagger. Absolutely no identity with Jokic off the court. I’m supposed to believe that, even with often times more talented lineups, us getting obliterated in the non-Jokic minutes isn’t a coaching problem. This team has been scraping out wins against garbage teams and has folded in almost every game against a semi-good team. Our net rating is close to negative, same with +/-. But hey we’re winning games so all is good.
It’s not gonna happen, but If they’re not the 1st seed comfortably by the time this home stretch is over, Malone needs to get canned.
Literally only 5 wins came against over . 500 teams: Utah(x2), Clippers, Portland and GSW. They beat the Warriors when they were ass and if the rest of those teams don’t scream mediocrity to you idk what does. They’ve had a piss easy schedule and have done nothing to prove they’re close to a contender and the worst thing is that they’ve shown 0 improvement.
Bones Hyland YOU are making my next chipotle order. Bum
Hear me out.
Jimmy Butler
Man, this team is just soft AF. That Lakers team isnāt very good, but they just played more physical and the Nuggets totally backed down.
On the bright side, my Aaron Gordon is Mr. Nugget stocks have been doing great.
3 of Denverās 4 next opponents btw: Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Suns
I’m ask the homers to help me with the light here.
What is the scope for us to be a contender this season?
Give this team to Pop, Nurse or Spoelstra, and we would be 1st seed rn, being the favorites to win it all.
I like Malone. He’s a good guy and good coach. But sometimes you need more.
Someone please tell me, how many points did Bryant actually score ON JokiÄ?
https://preview.redd.it/zy0r2e3vxf6a1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f25a75d817f175dc679f139320a00ce25e4350e4
Playing hyland and green with Jokic is so hilarious.
Like their creation irrelevant with Jokic and the defense is so bad
That’s what cost them the game late 3q
I have a headache, going to bed. Love you all, except for anyone who disagrees with me.
fucking embarassing
Only time I could see the nuggets in person this year and they lay an egg š
Lost in all of this – when the hell is MPJ coming back? Not that I think it would fix the defense in the slightest, but it would offload some effort on offense from the others.
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined
There needs to be a separate subreddit for the annoying Jokic only fans to go fuck off to and cry that Malone needs to be fired in their lil echo chamber
What are we doing man
Imho fuck the lakers
I am JUST getting back to earth. Holy shit.