SALT LAKE CITY — Nuggets coach Michael Malone vehemently defended his decision to rest starters , and in Sunday’s loss against the Trail Blazers despite the ensuing narrative that Denver wanted a favorable postseason matchup.
“There’s this crazy, I don’t know where itap coming from, I really don’t, story out there that we rested guys because we’re trying to avoid Houston,” Malone said from Tuesday’s shootaround prior to their game against the Jazz. “We’re not trying to avoid anybody. We’re not scared of anybody. We’re not going to run from anybody.”
A Nuggets loss meant that the Trail Blazers still had a chance at securing the No. 3 seed, which would force Houston down to the No. 4 – and put the Rockets on the other side of the bracket from Denver. That scenario can still happen if the Blazers win their final two games (at Lakers, vs. Kings), the Rockets lose to Oklahoma City in their final game and the Nuggets win one more game.
The Nuggets were up 105-98 with 4:33 left in Sunday’s game at the Blazers. And rather than re-insert starters , and to close the game, Malone left the lineup of , , , and to finish it out. Four of the five played the entire fourth quarter, with the rest of the minutes going to , and Plumlee.
After the game, Malone said that that lineup had reached a “point of no return” and that his typical starters – Harris, Barton and, for this game, Morris – had been on the bench for too long.
“We haven’t rested anybody in four years,” Malone said. “We had a crazy schedule, we had six games in nine nights, it was unbelievably hard, and all those guys were nursing injuries. We’re playing everybody tonight (vs. Utah). For people in Houston and people in Denver to be thinking that we are resting people because we intentionally lost so we could avoid a matchup is very wrong, very erroneous reporting.”
The Nuggets said all the right things about why they didn’t play their best players last night. But it sure *looked* like they were trying to give Portland an extra win in the hopes the Blazers will pass Houston & send the Rockets to the other side of the West playoff bracket
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols)
The story was addressed on ESPN’s show “The Jump” with Rachel Nichols, and in Tuesday’s edition of the Salt Lake Tribune, which used the work “tank” to describe the ending of Sunday’s Nuggets-Blazers game.
“Letap talk about the team’s other two regular starters, Gary Harris and Will Barton,” Nichols said. “They did suit up, but they weren’t allowed to play in the fourth quarter. … As a result, the Nuggets did in fact cough up the game, which I gotta say, at least seems like it was the intention.”
With two games left, the loss jeopardized Denver’s chances at the No. 2 seed, although they still control their own destiny. If they win their final two games, they’ll lock up the No. 2 seed and have potentially aided their cause at the same time.
