Those of us enjoying Nuggets fever got a big ol’ bucket of ice water dumped on our heads Friday night during team’s 95-78 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Just two nights after running circles around James Harden and the Houston Rockets on the road, the Nuggets were a sloppy, lethargic mess at home. Those of you watching the game on TV probably saw the team’s errant passes, last-ditch shots and isolation-heavy offense. What may or may not have been apparent, however, was the team’s complete lack of urgency after they fell behind midway through the first quarter.
The Nuggets walked the ball up on offense, and jogged back to defend. Their off-ball movement was — wait, what off-ball movement?
It was apparent to everyone in the building that something was up. Did someone spike the Nuggets’ Halloween candy with pot edibles? After the final buzzer, head coach Michael Malone wasted little time addressing the low-wattage performance.
“What drives me crazy is the lack of effort,” coach Malone said after the game. “When you as a coach have to coach effort, you’re in trouble.”
It wasn’t just the energy, of course. The slop started early, with Kenneth Faried blowing a dunk and Danilo Gallinari whizzing a pass into the stands. In the fourth quarter, yet another errant Nugs pass flew out of bounds, only this time it shot into the hands of Malone, who dribbled the ball in frustration before lobbing it to the refs.
The Nuggets struggled all night to get any offense going in the paint, and instead settled for midrange jumpers and long-shot three pointers. Most of the shots were contested. Perhaps unsurprisingly the team shot just 31%.
You can’t blame the Nuggets for opting to shoot. Early in the first quarter, rookie starter Emmauel Mudiay drove toward the rim and was roundly stuffed by T-wolves’ star Karl-Anthony Towns. Towns racked up 28 points against the Nuggets, but his strength on defense cannot be overhyped.
At 6-foot-11 with a seemingly endless wingspan, the 19-year-old Towns is a physical specimen. From my seat in the press box, Towns and Kevin Garnett looked like two of Stretch Armstrong dolls swatting away all attempts by the Nuggets to get inside.
When his starters faltered, Malone opted for a small-ball lineup of Jameer Nelson and Randy Foye, who promptly bricked two threes and racked up a foul. As the night wore on, Malone sent in more subs, including Mike Miller, who was originally listed as a DNP. After the game Malone said he was just trying anything to stir up his team.
“I was searching for guys who wanted to play hard,” he said.
The bright spot of the night was unquestionably the play of Mudiay, who again displayed incredible confidence and raw, unpolished talent in his effort. Mudiay led the team with 15 points, shooting 2-for-5 from three-point range. Even after his disastrous drive at Towns, the youngster kept attacking. Sometimes his efforts bore fruit. Other times not so much. Either way, he appeared fearless.
So where does this loss leave us with the team? Perhaps the Nuggets this season are destined to act like your bipolar cousin, and vacillate between scary good and well, just scary. That’s not ideal, but not necessarily a bad fate for a young, unpolished squad.
It’s unfortunate that the Nuggets laid an egg on their home opener, especially after the impressive start in Houston. But like all NBA results in October, we can reassure ourselves that the season is long and there is time for the team to iron out its wrinkles. There will be more buckets of ice water to come, but I say keep your Nuggets fever piping hot.