Jamal Murray has never been shy about speaking his mind when he’s frustrated. The Nuggets guard will say whatever he wants about not only the opposing team but his own teammates if necessary. Lately, with how the Nuggets have performed, it’s been his own team that has received the ire of his frustrations.
Denver has been blown out in two of its last three games, once against the Rockets on New Year’s Eve, and then again on Saturday to the Wizards. Both games have featured ridiculously high scoring margins with Houston scoring 130 on the Denver defense and Washington scoring 128. At least with Houston, an excuse can be made that the Rockets are a title contender, but letting the Wizards do this to you? That’s just embarrassing. Murray told reporters after the game the problem is the Nuggets don’t respect their opponents enough, via Mike Singer of The Denver Post.
“I just didn’t think we respected our opponent,” Murray said in the aftermath of Denver’s 128-114 loss. “All this talk about they’re the worst team in the league. Might be the hardest playing team in the league. I’ll put them with Miami, New York plays hard, those teams we’ve got to come out and be ready.”
Over the course of an 82-game season, this will happen from time to time. When you look at the 11-24 Wizards coming up on the schedule, it isn’t hugely surprising how the Nuggets might not be fully locked in, but Washington also has one of the most dynamic offenses in the NBA. If you sleep on the Wizards then they will put points on you in a hurry. Which is exactly what happened to the Nuggets when they went down 31-19 at the end of the first quarter and spent the rest of the game playing catch up.
The Nuggets are also a team that can be shockingly sleepy sometimes. They’re a great team, but their boredom with the regular season feels unjustified when the most they’ve accomplished so far is advancing to the second round of the playoffs. It would be nice to see a little more drive from them, even when they’re playing some of the lower teams in the league. Respecting bad teams shouldn’t be a problem when you yourself are lacking it.
