The Denver Nuggets were blown out 145-118 by the New York Knicks at Ball Arena on Monday and head coach Michael Malone went off on his players after the loss. Malone was not pleased with the effort put in by his players and when Nikola Jokic was informed about those comments in his press conference, he agreed with his coach.
“I mean, he was right,” Jokic said. “We are in the games, we always down 20 at a half. I don’t know. Do we don’t warm up or do we don’t wake up, or we just don’t play hard enough? I don’t know what it is, but collectively, we need to do a better job.”
When a reporter stated that the Nuggets had played well against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday, Jokic was quick to point out that they were down in that game too.
“I mean, we were down 10 I think in LA too,” Jokic said. “We were down 20 against Dallas… Seems like we are always down and we always catching behind.”
Slow starts have been the theme for the Nuggets in 2024-25. They have a net rating of -10.9 in the first half this season, which ranks 29th in the NBA. Only the lowly Washington Wizards are worse off than them at -14.1.
Meanwhile, in the second half, the Nuggets have a net rating of 11.9, which ranks third in the NBA behind the Orlando Magic (12.8) and the Houston Rockets (12.5). Denver is the only team to be in the top five in one category and the bottom five in the other. It has, quite literally, been a tale of two halves when it comes to this team.
While the Nuggets were able to overcome a slow start and beat the Lakers, they couldn’t do that here. The Knicks capitalized on the home team’s sluggishness and led 36-24 after the first quarter. They then stretched their advantage to 76-53 by halftime and the game was all but over at that point.
What also helped the Knicks come away with an easy win here was Jokic not even being close to his best. The 29-year-old had just 22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and one steal on the night. He even went scoreless in the second quarter and was unable to stop the visitors from stretching that early advantage.
If anyone’s allowed to have an off-night, though, it’s Jokic. He has had a phenomenal start to the season, with averages of 29.7 points, 13.4 rebounds, 10.9 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game, and sits atop the MVP power rankings for 2024-25. Unless the Nuggets completely drop off and become a play-in team, I think he will end up winning his fourth MVP award.
Jokic couldn’t care less about the award, though, and his focus will be on helping the Nuggets win their next game. The six-time All-Star stated during this postgame press conference that it’s “always good to get a punch in the face” to wake up and this was quite a punch. I expect a strong response from the Nuggets players when they face the Utah Jazz next at Delta Center on Wednesday at 9 PM ET.
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