Denver Nuggets Exit Playoffs With Nikola Jokic Outburst

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone may be rueing his comments after Game 2 against the Phoenix Suns this morning.

The Denver Nuggets crashed out of the playoffs on Sunday night after defeat to Phoenix confirmed a 4 – 0 sweep.

After losing Game 2 to the Suns, Michael Malone said he thought his players quit. He called for more physicality, more urgency.

“I felt we quit tonight, which is something you never want to see,” Malone said. 

“So I guess for Game 3, I’m just going to try to find guys that will at least go out there and leave it all on the line. I may have a hard time coming up with five guys that fill that, but these two games, these second halves have really been disappointing, and that’s an understatement.”

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“I saw one team that wanted to be here, that played with a purpose and urgency, and one team that did not want to be here and played with no urgency,” Malone added.

This rallying cry came back to bite him in Sunday’s Game 4 when NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was ejected.

Jokic swung out at Suns guard Gameron Payne in frustration with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter. After a lengthy review, he was ejected with a flagrant foul 2.

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“I wanted to change the rhythm of the game, I wanted to give us some energy, maybe change the whistle a little bit, so I wanted to make a hard foul,” Jokic said. “Did I hit him, did I not hit him? We don’t know. So I say sorry if I did because I did not want to injure him or hit him in the head on purpose.”

The Nuggets ultimately couldn’t come back into the game. The Phoenix Suns advance to the Western Conference finals after a 125 – 118 win.