The Denver Nuggets are falling and head coach Michael Malone has seen enough.
Denver lost its fourth straight game Tuesday night, falling to the toronto raptors125-110.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone leaves the stadium after losing to the Chicago Bulls 117-96 at Ball Arena in Denver on March 8, 2023. (Aaron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
It’s the longest losing streak of the season for the Nuggets, and it comes at an inopportune time with the NBA Playoffs Turning the corner.
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And while Denver still has a four-game lead for first place in the western conferenceMalone took advantage of the losing streak to call his team.
«Right now we’re in chill mode, and you can’t be in chill mode with 13 games to go in the season,» Malone said. «We have to try to find a way to get our arrogance back.»
«Maybe we’ve softened up a bit with the success,» Malone said. «We’ve been in cruise control for so long, No. 1 in the West since Dec. 15. I just told our players that we’ve moved away from who we are.»
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone during a Brooklyn Nets game, Sunday, March 12, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver has allowed at least 120 points in three of four losses, with only one loss for a team with a record above .500 on the season.
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Toronto led all of Tuesday night, scoring 49 points in the first quarter and holding a 24-point lead going into the third.
Denver cut the lead to just six heading into the fourth quarter, but the The nuggets could not to complete the comeback.
«When you spend that much energy getting back into the game, you don’t have anything left to finish,» Malone said.
Denver has held the lone seed in the West for most of the season while the rest of the conference has struggled.
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Nikola Jokic has been incredible, attempting to become the first center to average a triple-double for the season as he searches for his third straight MVP award.
Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets goes to the net around OG Anunoby of the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on March 14, 2023 in Toronto, Canada. (Cole Burston/Getty Images)
But the Nuggets may be facing the most pressure of any team in the conference heading into the postseason.
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Denver has been one of the best regular-season teams since 2018, but has only advanced to the Western Conference Finals once, losing to the LA Lakers in the Orlando bubble in 2020.
But if the Nuggets fail once again in the playoffs, the rumors will only get louder that this is simply a regular-season team with a star player who can’t do it when it matters, regardless of what stats he puts up.
Associated Press contributed to this report