The Denver Nuggets have been the best team throughout the NBA playoffs, yet people continue to talk about what the Los Angeles Lakers need to do to beat them.
The narrative after Game 1 was that Coach Darvin Ham had figured the Nuggets out because he put Rui Hachimura on Nikola Jokic, and that the Lakers should feel confident despite the loss.
No one even talked about Nikola Jokic’s triple-double or how the Nuggets led by 18 points at halftime. That’s why Coach Mike Malone put the media on blast for the constant disrespect.
Mike Malone Puts NBA Media On Blast
“A lot of our guys and they may not admit this, you win Game 1 of the playoffs and all everyone talked about was the Lakers,“ Malone said in the aftermath of the win. “Let’s be honest, the national narrative was that the Lakers were fine.”
“No one talked about Nikola (Jokic) having a historic performance,” Malone continued. “He’s got 13 triple-doubles now, third all-time. What he’s doing is incredible. The narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets, the narrative wasn’t about Nikola, it was about the Lakers and their adjustments. You put that in your pipe and smoke it and come back saying ‘We’re gonna go up 2-0’.”
Nikola Jokic Is Unbothered By The Lack Of Attention
Jokic, on the other hand, was completely unfazed by the lack of attention. He says it’s nothing new, and he and his teammates are more than used to being overlooked by the media:
“It’s nothing new for us. To be honest, I like it. We don’t care,” Jokic said. “Whatever. Even in the bubble when we beat Utah, it was they blew the lead. When we beat the Clippers, it was they blew the lead. Nobody talked about how we won those games. It’s normal for us. I don’t pay attention [to all of that].”
The Nuggets have most definitely made a statement now. If people were sleeping on them, you better believe they’ve got everybody’s attention after these two huge wins.
