After leading the Nuggets to a 108–103 Game 2 win over the Lakers, coach Michael Malone delivered a strong statement to the media regarding his perception of the pro-Lakers narratives he says have surrounded the Western Conference finals thus far.
Prior to Thursday’s Game 2, Malone made headlines after dismissing reports of the Lakers’ plan to have forward Rui Hachimura see more time as Nikola Jokić’s primary defender over Anthony Davis. As it turns out, L.A.’s adjustment didn’t appear to affect the two-time MVP too much as Jokić followed his 34-point triple-double in Denver’s Game 1 win with a 23-point, 17-rebound and 12-assist effort for his 13th career playoff triple-double (third all-time) and his seventh this postseason.
With Denver now up 2–0 and Jokić continuing his legendary run, Malone made it clear he has an issue with the way his star center and team have been covered in the media compared to the coverage the Lakers have received through two games.
“All everybody talked about was the Lakers,” Malone said of the post-Game 1 conversation. “Let’s be honest, that was a national narrative: The Lakers were fine. They’re down 1–0 but they figured something out. No one talked about that Nikola just had a historic performance. He’s got 13 triple-doubles now, third all-time.
“What he’s doing is just incredible, but the narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets. The narrative wasn’t about Nikola. The narrative was about the Lakers and their adjustments. So you put that in your pipe, you smoke it, you come back and you know what, we’re going to go up 2–0.”
A follow-up question asking if Game 2 changed the narrative appeared to add more fuel to the fire for the already fired-up Malone, who firmly told reporters his team is less concerned about narratives and more focused on the series shifting to L.A.
“I don’t care if it does because we know our narrative in that locker room,” he continued. “We know that we’re not done, we haven’t done anything yet. You got to win a game on the other team’s home court if you really want to do something in the series, and we know how great that team is, especially on their home court. So, we’re not celebrating. This is not cause for celebration, this is a cause to continue to dig deep and find ways to be better.”
“The national narrative [after Game 1] was that the Lakers were fine. … No one talked about Nikola just had a historic performance. … The narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets.”
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 19, 2023
- Nuggets HC Michael Malone pic.twitter.com/zUSjByjZMf
Judging by Malone’s charged response, the Nuggets, despite being the West’s No. 1 seed, are hungry to prove why they should be the favorites in the series, even though they’re playing a seven-seeded team led by LeBron James and Davis.
Heading into Saturday’s Game 3, Malone, Jokić and Jamal Murray, who added to his standout postseason with a game-high 37 points on Thursday, will surely hear more discourse regarding Denver and L.A.’s chances to win the series. In the Nuggets’ case, the matchup will present a golden opportunity to further silence the doubters should they earn a 3–0 lead that would surely lead to a number of interesting narratives on both sides.
