The Denver Nuggets’ title defense came to an end on Sunday night, as the Minnesota Timberwolves erased a 20-point second half deficit to stun the defending champs at home in Game 7 of their incredible second round series.
It was a shocking collapse from the Nuggets, who went ice cold offensively in the second half, scoring just 37 points, while the Timberwolves cracked the code of Denver’s defense and started creating tremendous looks. After being dominant late in games for the past two years, it was pretty incredible seeing the Wolves, not the Nuggets, as the team that handled themselves better in the crucial minutes of the fourth quarter. Denver looked like a team that thought they’d won the game when they went up 20, and could never regain control.
After the game, the Nuggets were unsurprisingly not in the best mood, which can create a somewhat contentious atmosphere as they answer questions from the assembled media. For coach Michael Malone, he wasn’t too interested in answering a question about whether it hurt more losing a 20-point lead, grumbling after about “stupid ass questions.”
Malone: Season's over, that's what's hard. Fuck being up by 20 … stupid ass questions" pic.twitter.com/y8wVAZHc4z
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) May 20, 2024
It’s not the best question in the world — anything in the “how does it feel” realm is going to get a “bad” after a big loss and “great” after a big win — but I think in this case the reporter served as a bit of an outlet for Malone’s greater frustration with how the night went. That, in and of itself, is an answer to the question, even if it was one Malone wasn’t particularly happy to have lobbed his way.
