Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was not particularly happy with the way they played against the Miami Heat in the first match of the NBA Finals despite their 104-93 win on Thursday night. Malone feels they don’t want to get complacent and urged his players to improve in Game 2 so that they continue the winning impetus.
The head coach believes their defense was poor and they can do a better job in the rest of the series. Malone was also not happy with the fact that they lost the fourth quarter by 30-20 despite having a sizeable lead after the third frame.
Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic scored 27 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds and joined Jason Kidd as the second player to make their NBA Finals debut with a triple-double. Furthermore, Jamal Murray provided support to Jokic as he scored 26 points in his team’s comprehensive win.
Malone said he told his players to pull up their socks despite the Game 1 win against Miami Heat.
“I don’t think we played well in Game 1,” Malone said on Saturday. “I watched that tape, and they were 5-of-16 on wide-open 3’s. As I told our players this morning, the fact that they got 16 wide-open 3’s is problematic. And if you think that Max Strus is going to go 0-for-9 again or Duncan Robinson is going to go 1-for-5 again, you’re wrong.”
The 51-year-old from New York advised his players to not read the newspaper and listen to experts on radio and TV, so that they stay focussed on the job at hand.
“I told our players today, don’t read the paper,” Malone said. “Don’t listen to the folks on the radio and TV saying that this series is over and that we’ve done something, because we haven’t done a damn thing.”
Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope urged his players to stay focused on the job at hand.
“Stay motivated,” Caldwell-Pope said of his message. “We’re here; don’t fumble the ball on the 1-yard line I would say. We’ve got three games left, let’s stay focused and let’s get this championship.”
The second game of the NBA finals between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat will take place on Sunday night.
