Even with an 82-game schedule, when you’re a team on the verge of playoff contention, every game matters. One last-second tip-in here or blown lead there and suddenly you’re sitting one game out of the eighth seed with no more games to play.
The Nuggets have been on the wrong end of those either-or games all season, but that wasn’t the case Wednesday night.
On Wednesday night, Denver was blown out.
In Utah, the Jazz quickly jumped out to a 14-0 lead, before eventually putting the game away 108-83.
The starting unit was entirely ineffective, and while Jamal Murray and Wilson Chandler had solid outings, it wasn’t enough.
“Tough night in Salt Lake City, man. It happens,” head coach Michael Malone said after the game, via The Denver Post.
It does happen. You could call it a schedule loss. The Nuggets were playing on a back-to-back, having taken down the Chicago Bulls at the Pepsi Center the night before, and Utah was playing on two days rest.
Without question, it was a tall task, even before the Nuggets announced Danilo Gallinari would miss his first start of the year with a sore hamstring.
But it was the lack of effort, the lack of drive, that was inexcusable.
“I think we kind of just gave in at times,” Malone said. “I knew coming in that they’ve been off since Sunday. They’d lost four in a row. They get George Hill back. They need a win in the worst way. We were going to get their best shot tonight.
“But there’s no excuses. It happens. When we played Boston in three games and four nights we played great. But tonight we didn’t answer the bell, which is disappointing. But we’ll get back at it, look at what we have to clean up and try to come out on Friday night against Oklahoma City with a greater sense of energy and urgency to start the game.”
Denver currently sits at 6-9, good enough for the 10th seed in the Western Conference, a game and a half out of the playoffs.
With just 15 games played, there’s plenty of time to push themselves back into the thick of the playoff conversation, and the journey continues on Friday when the Nuggets welcome the Thunder into the Pepsi Center.
The team is finally about to enter an easier stretch of their schedule, with seven of their next 10 games against teams currently out of the playoff picture.
