Feb 5, 2020; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone reacts during the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets are just one win away from capturing an NBA title, and head coach Michael Malone says he has one main concern heading into Game 5 on Monday night.
Malone spoke on Sunday about the difficulty of winning a closeout game in the NBA. He said the problem that arises is teams “come up for air and relax” when they’re in similar situations to the one Denver is in, which is holding a 3-1 series lead.
"My biggest concern going into any closeout game is human nature."
Michael Malone on how his team's experience being down 3-1 and coming back twice in 2020 has taught them to play desperate, even when leading in a series. pic.twitter.com/9wa0YzmB6b
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“My biggest concern going into any closeout game is human nature and fighting against that,” Malone said. “You’re up 3-1. Most teams, when they’re up 3-1, they come up for air and relax. They just kind of take it for granted that, ‘Oh, we’re gonna win this.’ The main thing for us is going back to the bubble, we’ve been down 3-1 before and we’ve come back and won. We know anything is possible. … Our approach has to be that we’re down 3-1. They’re desperate, and we have to be more desperate.”
Malone mentioned how the Nuggets were down 3-1 in the playoffs during the NBA bubble season three years ago and came back to win the series. He hopes that experience shows his players that they should play with just as much desperation as the Miami Heat in Game 5.
The Nuggets are on the verge of completing a dominant postseason run. Game 5 obviously is not a must-win for them, but they do not want to lose and give the Heat a chance to tie the series in Game 6, which is in Miami. It would be a surprise if Nikola Jokic in company took their foot off the gas on Monday.
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