‘Leadership would be great’ -Malone rips into Nuggets stars after blowout loss

The Denver Nuggets were embarrassed by the New York Knicks in a blowout loss on Monday night.

And head coach Michael Malone was not happy.

The Knicks led by as many as 30 points in an explosive and historic display, matching a franchise-record 45 assists in a 145-118 win.

New York last managed that many assists in one game against Cleveland way back on November 24, 1979.

Their 145 points also marked the most scored by a visitor to the Ball Arena since the Los Angeles Lakers scored 146 in an overtime win on April 10, 2022.

It was the most points a visiting team had scored in a regulation game in Denver since the Phoenix Suns won 153-118 in April 1991.

Post game, Nuggets coach Malone made his feelings clear, ripping into his players after being asked if he will ‘flush’ the embarrassing loss.

“F*** that man, no. No, we’re not flushing,” he said.

“You don’t flush when you get embarrassed, you don’t flush when you gave up 145 points, you don’t flush when you didn’t play hard, didn’t play with effort, physicality, I’m not flushing anything.”

Malone also took aim at his team’s on-court leadership in tough situations and suggested he needs to see more from his starters.

“I mean like Russell Westbrook, he’s vocal – but we need more than Russell Westbrook,” he continued.

“I need Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, I need guys that have been here in that starting lineup to be vocal. And you know tonight we got embarrassed.

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“We’re 16 games in and we’re talking about effort, we’re talking about toughness, we’re talking about physicality.

“And regardless of who’s in, who’s out, who do we want to be as a team? So, yeah, leadership would be great, toughness would be great.

“Physicality would be great, playing like you actually care would be great, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

A blowout loss to the Knicks dropped the Nuggets to 5-4 at home this season.

While they still have a positive overall record of 9-7, their form at the Ball Arena is rather surprising considering they posted their second-best home mark last season at 33-8.

Malone’s assessment was echoed by star man Jokic, who admitted that the team ‘didn’t show up’ against the Knicks.

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“It’s always a good punch in the face just to wake up,” the 2024 MVP said.

“Coach was right. We are in the games, and we are always down 20 at a half. I don’t know (what’s going on).

“We don’t warm up, 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.”

The Nuggets have a chance to bounce back on Wednesday night when they head to Salt Lake City for a match-up against the Utah Jazz.