On Saturday night, the Denver Nuggets fell to the struggling Atlanta Hawks, 106-98. Following the contest, Nuggets head coach Mike Malone was far from pleased with his team's performance, even going as far as claiming that this was Denver's worst game of the season.
Speaking to reporters after the defeat, Malone explained that a lackluster third quarter from the Nuggets was what primarily led to the unexpected defeat.
“They came out in the third quarter and beat our butts,” said Denver coach Mike Malone, via ESPN. “The third quarter our defense was non-existent. This was one of our worst performances of the year.”
The Nuggets were up by five points entering the third quarter, but the Hawks came out with guns blazing after the halftime break. Atlanta outscored Denver by 14 points in the third, and this proved to be enough to secure only their sixth win of the season.
This was thanks in large part to the heroics of Hawks big man John Collins who had the best game of his young NBA career. The Nuggets had no answer to the 21-year-old forward who dropped a career-high 30 points on Denver's uninspiring defense.
For the Nuggets, both Gary Harris and Paul Millsap were unavailable for this one, and recent reports suggest that both guys will be out of action for at least a couple of weeks. Aside from the two aforementioned starters, Will Barton and Isaiah Thomas are also still nursing respective injuries, and are not expected back in the near future.
Unfortunately for the Nuggets, they will have no choice but to ride out the storm, and rely heavily on the likes of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, as they hope to sustain their strong start to the season.
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