The Denver Nuggets suffered their fourth loss in six games after getting trampled on Sunday night by the Boston Celtics at home, 124-104.
After a decent start, the Nuggets got limited to only 16 points in the second quarter, as the Celtics broke the game wide open. His wards' lethargic performance wasn't lost on Nuggets coach Mike Malone. In a report by ESPN, he admitted that his decision to bench his starters, including Nikola Jokic, at the onset of the third quarter was by design.
“To me, it appeared we just kind of gave in and quit. And I didn't want to reward that behavior. I thought the bench unit was at least going out there and competing and fighting.
Malone's gamble worked, as the Nuggets outscored the Celtics in the second half. But ultimately, it proved to be not enough, as Jayson Tatum and company won their third straight game and eighth of their last nine outings.
Malone also got real on the surprisingly large Celtics crowd at Ball Arena, while calling out his players as well.
“I told them at halftime, you're lucky this was a ‘Celtics home game.' Because if it wasn't, the boos would have been—rightfully so—really, really loud.”
Jokic finished with 23 points but shot only 8-of-23 from the field. The rest of the starters combined for 34 points.
The Nuggets, who dropped to 42-30, can try to bounce back on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
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