The Denver Nuggets were absolutely hammered by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night, losing Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series 106-80. After the game, Nuggets coach Michael Malone gave a brutal assessment of where his team stood.
Malone did not sound happy when addressing his team's loss. He said, "They kicked our a--. Yeah, it got away from us. It's going to be a challenge. The body language is not where I think it needs to be. We just got beat up in our building. We got embarrassed in front of our fans." Malone continued, "You feel embarrassed. You feel exposed. What are you going to do about it."
The defending NBA champs have their backs against the wall. They have opened the series with two home losses and things will now shift back to Minneapolis and the Timberwolves have all the momentum. Malone was right to feel embarrassed and uneasy.
Denver didn't get what it needed from its stars in Game 2. Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 16 rebounds and eight asists but was 5-for-13 from the field. Jamal Murray struggled mightily and finished with eight points, 13 rebounds, two assists, two steals and was 3-of-18 from the field.
On the other side of things, the Timberwolves got everything they needed from their big stars. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks while going 10-for-15 from the field and 3-for-5 from three-point range. Anthony Edwards continued his breakout postseason, scored 27 points, adding seven assists and finishing an efficient 11-for-17 from the field.
Malone and the Nuggets will need to find an answer quickly to turn things around or they'll become the sixth consecutive defending champion that failed to reach the NBA Finals.
