NEW YORK CITY – Even after securing an 18-point win over the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden, Michael Malone’s voice had been ruined because he was constantly imploring his team to play more consistently.
“We’re winning games, but I don’t even think we’re playing our best basketball,” Malone explained after the win. “So that’s a good thing, when you’re not playing great, you’re not playing consistent, but you’re winning games — I don’t know if that’s sixth in a row, whatever it is, our third win on the road, which gives us 19 on the season, but it is just a matter of staying on top of guys, watching film, and demanding it from them. Reminding them about it like I did in every huddle tonight. That’s why I got no voice.”
On the surface, it is hard to find anything wrong with the Nuggets play over the past couple weeks. Yes, the Nuggets have won six-straight games including three-straight victories on the road, but that does not mean that Denver is anywhere near their best and, with just 11 games left, Malone is hoping that his incredibly young roster finds a way to get into a great rhythm with the postseason rapidly approaching.
“One things I told our guys after is that we have to find a way to just be more consistent,” Malone explained after beating the Knicks. “There were times and stretches in tonight’s game where we looked like the best team in the NBA. There were other stretches where we looked like a team fighting to even make the playoffs. When you get up big early, sustaining a lead is hard; teams are going to make runs, but I just want us to be more consistent as we move forward.
“We did a lot of good things tonight — the defense overall was great — but just more consistency.”
The reason that Malone was hammering the need for the Nuggets to be consistent is because — despite coming away with a 111-93 win on the road — Denver continually kept taking their foot off of the gas once they took a big lead.
“People get bored with success,” Malone stated unflinchingly. “We get up by 24 points and you forget what allowed you to get up by 24 points by playing good defense and moving the ball. Now you look up and see you’re up 24 and some guys area saying ‘it is my time to shine; I am going to do my thing’ and you get away from what allowed you to build that lead in the first place. That complacency, lack of focus or discipline at times; I definitely saw it tonight.”
Even though Denver let off the throttle a few too many times against the Knicks, one thing they did not do is slip up — something Will Barton told the media he has not done since elementary school.
“I am too smooth to slip,” Barton said after stepping over a power cord in the locker room as he vacated Madison Square Garden. “I haven’t slipped since the third grade.”
Now that the slip-up has been avoided, the Nuggets are turning their attention to the final 11 games of the season. Denver is in a very strong position considering that they tied for the first seed in the Western Conference with the Golden State Warriors. Now, the Nuggets have their sights on the first seed, but that does not mean that securing the first seed is priority number one for the Nuggets organization.
“Is it something that we talk about? Sure. Is it something that we say why not us? Sure. But we are not going to risk any players health or rest at the expense of being the number one seed,” Malone explained. “I would much rather be a healthy and rested team going into the playoffs to give ourselves a chance to be a dangerous team in the playoffs. We are not a team that is just satisfied with making it. We want to be a team that gets in there and makes noise.”
Yes, the Nuggets are happy with all of the wins they are grabbing, but that does not mean they are finished growing or improving. They know that the playoffs are nearly upon them and if they want to make noise, they are going to need to be at their best as the playoffs approach.
“It is so important going into that first weekend of the playoffs starting to be playing at a high level, having a rhythm, having confidence,” Malone stated. “As of late, we have won six in a row and I believe and we are doing that.
“Now, we have to sustain it.”
