DENVER — Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone is being critiqued for his response to a reporter after his team's Game 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday night.
The 98-90 Game 7 loss ended the Nuggets' season in front of a stunned home crowd at Ball Arena.
In his emotional post-game press conference after the Nuggets' season abruptly ended, Malone did not like one reporter's question about the Nuggets giving up a 20-point third-quarter lead.
"How hard is it to absorb a loss like this after going ahead by 20?" a reporter asked Malone.
"Next question, man," Malone said. "The season's over. That's what's hard. [Expletive] being up 20. The season's over. You don't understand that. The season's over, it's hard. Stupid-ass questions."
ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins wrote on X that Malone's reponse was "classless."
Denver's hopes of going back-to-back as NBA champions were crushed as the Nuggets were eliminated from the 2024 playoffs in the second round. No team has won repeat titles since the Golden State Warriors in 2017-18.
The Nuggets lost three of the four games played on their home court.
"This feeling sucks," Malone said. "You go from training camp all the way through, then it comes to an abrupt halt. And that hurts... We won it last year and teams got better. You have to tip your caps."
"You never want to be a 'coulda, woulda, shoulda'," Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon said. "We gave ourselves good opportunities to repeat... that's a really good Timberwolves team over there. I have no doubt they're going to be competing for a championship."
"Fight like you're being hunted," Denver guard Jamal Murray said. "When you're the hunter, you have so much more motivation and you grasp onto anything to prove everybody wrong. You have a constant chip on your shoulder."
The Timberwolves will face the Dallas Mavericks in their first Western Conference Finals appearance in 20 years.
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