DENVER — Nuggets head coach Michael Malone dismissed “stupid-ass questions” about Denver blowing a 20-point second-half lead to squander Game 7 of the west semis.
A frustrated Malone took the podium following the season-ending loss and faced three questions about the blown lead.
“Next question, man,” he said after being asked how hard it is to absorb the loss after holding such a big lead. “The season’s over. That’s what’s hard. F**k being up 20. The season’s over. You don’t understand that. The season’s over, it’s hard.”
He then muttered under his breath: “Stupid-ass questions.”
Denver’s season ends despite 35 points from Jamal Murray and 34 from Nikola Jokic in Game 7. The rest of the Nuggets’ roster scored just 21.
The Nuggets averaged just under 85 points per game in the four losses to Minnesota.
“I think so much has been placed on their shoulders,” Malone said of his two offensive stars. “We're expecting Nikola and Jamal to continue to pull rabbits out of their hat [...] somebody else has got to give some help.”
With Denver’s loss, the last five defending NBA champions have failed to make it past the second round of the following season. Malone said fatigue became a factor for the Nuggets, whose starters saw no rest through the 82nd game of the regular season when the Nuggets were in a tight race atop the Western Conference.
“I think the run last season and coming back and the amount of minutes that our starters had to play … I think mentally, emotionally, physically, I think guys are gassed. They're dead tired,” he said. “They gave me everything I could ever ask for.”
“And that's why, as much as this hurts, I will walk out of this building tonight with my head held very high. Because we competed, we fought, we gave ourselves a chance and we came up short. And that's going to happen at times."