The Denver Nuggets suffered defeat on their home court Friday night against the struggling Philadelphia 76ers. The game was a sloppy one as a whole for the Nuggets with head coach Michael Malone citing the team’s focus as a driving factor behind their struggles.
“It was not a good night for us defensively,” Malone said after the game. “Our focus at shoot around today was not great, and I think when you start to win a few games you start to feel good about yourself, and you forget why you’ve been winning games. We are not just a team that can show up.”
The game was a dismal one that the Nuggets, on paper, should have won handedly. Prior to tonight the Nuggets were 7-3 in their last 10 when coming off a day of rest.
Philly entered the game with nine active players, on the second night of a back-to-back, with a record of 2-10 on the road.
The Nuggets were exposed in arguably their best element, rebounding.
Philly managed to snag 43 boards against the second-best rebounding team in the league.
“We did not win the battle of the glass,” Malone said. “Early on that was a huge part of us getting behind.”
“As I’ve been telling our team, you cannot rely on your offense to win in the NBA. It’s a losing proposition. Tonight was a great reminder of that, so we have to get back to taking a lot more pride in getting stops if we have any chance of becoming a team that wins consistently.”
The Nuggets must refocus quickly as they are set to travel to the bay area and take on the Golden State Warriors Monday followed by a game agains the Sacrament Kings, a team that has won six of their last 10.
