Former Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl is calling out his old team for lacking intensity in their Game 4 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Nuggets were outclassed by the Lakers as they dropped a 114-108 loss to put themselves in an unenviable position of being down 3-1 against the top-seeded LA squad.
The 69-year-old ex-coach took to his Twitter account to call a spade a spade and point out the Nuggets' shortcomings in their third loss against the Lakers in their best-of-seven matchup:
The Nuggets were soft tonight, especially Jokic and some of the bench guys.
I want more angry and physical presence!!!
This series isn’t over.
— George Karl (@CoachKarl22) September 25, 2020
Looking at the numbers, you can clearly see where the former Coach of the Year is coming from.
The Nuggets were outrebounded 41-33 and allowed 25 second chance points. The Lakers also went to the line 12 more times in the Nuggets' Game 4 defeat. Though these numbers don't paint the entire picture, the box score does reflect the lack of aggressiveness from Denver.
Karl also rightfully called out Nikola Jokic, who was virtually a non-factor on Thursday as he was limited by foul trouble all evening long. The 25-year-old star was far from his usual self and finished with just 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists, which pales in comparison to his postseason production so far this year. Prior to Thursday's loss, the Serbian was averaging 25.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists.
Jamal Murray was seemingly the only bright Nugget on Thursday with his 32 big points in a losing effort. Murray never took his foot off the pedal, but he unfortunately didn't have enough backup to help him overcome LeBron James and the rest of the tough Lakers squad.
Karl did mention that this best-of-seven series isn't over, but the Nuggets will have to quickly sort things out if they want to pull off another Herculean 3-1 comeback.
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