Jokic on blowout loss to Pistons: “We were not ready to play”
DETROIT» More than the final margin, Nuggets coach Michael Malone was most disappointed over his team’s effort here Monday night.
“We had a few guys just kind of give into it and not continue to fight,” said a demoralized Malone after his team got blown out 129-103 against Detroit. “That can’t be who we are.”
Injuries to starters Paul Millsap, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray have the Nuggets overextended. It had a trickle-down effect Monday night and at one point forced Malone to play Trey Lyles at center, Juancho Hernangomez at power forward and little-used Tyler Lydon at small forward. That rotation resulted in a 10-0 Pistons run to start the second quarter and a hole Denver couldn’t dig itself from.
“We were not ready to play basketball tonight,” said Nikola Jokic, whose three rebounds were the fewest he’s had all season. Andre Drummond, the NBA’s best offensive rebounder, and Blake Griffin were a terror in the paint and in select offensive sequences.
“They run a lot of the Blake Griffin show,” Monte Morris said. “With him and Drummond in the pick-and-roll, it puts us in rotation and it’s tough because Blake is so lethal.”
Their governing of the glass – Detroit owned a plus-21 rebounding advantage – sapped the life out the Nuggets, while their bench bludgeoned Denver’s thinning rotations. The Pistons’ second unit, led by 21 points from Stanley Johnson, outscored the Nuggets’ 60-28.
“Third quarter, it was close on the scoreboard, but I just felt their physicality, their domi- nance on the glass and us just not being present, engaged, willing to fight, willing to sacrifice allowed that to snowball and get out of hand pretty quickly,” Malone lamented.
In a nod to their injuries, Malik Beasley has played more than 30 minutes per game over the past five outings. He has also drained at least three 3-pointers in each contest but was quick to turn his focus to Wednesday’s game at Brooklyn.
“On to the next one, bad loss,” Beasley said. “Get it out of our mouths.”
Morris’ night.
One day after handing out water and posing for photos in his hometown of Flint, Mich., no Nuggets player enjoyed more love than Morris. The hometown product scored 18.
Among the dozens of fans Morris had waiting for him postgame were his Beecher High School coach, Mike Williams, and his former 7th-grade teacher.
“It’s big time,” Morris said. “A lot of people came out tonight, not just my relatives. Just people that supported me since I was younger, since I was in high school. I’m gonna just go show love.”
Jokic in Skills Challenge.
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is going to be busy over All-Star weekend.
Jokic was named as a reserve to his first NBA All-Star Game last month . And Tuesday, the Nuggets’ big man was selected to participate in the Skills Challenge on Feb. 16.