NBA Finals Game 1: Michael Malone, Nuggets Head Coach Not Satisfied With Performance Despite First Win

DELTA — Taking a commanding 1-0 lead in the 2023 NBA Finals Game 1, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone met with the media on Saturday and gushed over his team’s performance.

“I don’t think we played well in Game 1,” he admitted.

OK. Let’s give it another shot.

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone reiterated the message he gave his team in the locker room at Ball Arena after Thursday night’s spectacular victory, which gave Denver a 1-0 lead in the 2023 NBA Finals.

“I told our players today: Don’t read the paper, don’t listen to folks on the radio and TV saying that this series is over and that we’ve done something,” Malone said. As in, “because we haven’t done a damn thing.”

While answering questions about his team, Malone did give credit where credit was due, praising things like Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, and Christian Braun’s work in the bench, the unmatched chemistry between Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, Jokic’s “underrated defence,” and so on.

However, the procession route shouldn’t be planned just yet because film analysis found considerable potential for improvement.

NBA Finals Game 1: The Start of the Gigantic War of Basketball

Our defence against the pick-and-roll didn’t impress me. “Our’shrink the floor’ was terrible,” Malone said. I count 11 offensive boards for them. Bam Adebayo Bam had a total of 4. Three for Jimmy [Butler]. So there are a lot of places we can improve.

It’s reasonable that Malone would go into the weekend determined to prevent his team from suddenly becoming overconfident. However, we continue to respect Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon’s commitment to keeping abreast of the news and educated about the society in which he lives.

Denver performed well for three quarters in Game 1 (84 points on 55.9% shooting, a blazing 121.7 offensive rating), but you need to play four to win at this level (despite how dominant Jokic looked and how dangerous Murray was).

“Some possessions we play amazing, and some possessions we didn’t play good,” Jokic stated. We had some great quarters. That sounds like basketball to me. Because of this, it is a living creature. What will happen next is completely unpredictable. We know we can do better, but for now, we’ll settle with a 1-0 lead.

The big guy always says that winning is what matters. Malone was aware that despite Miami’s terrible shooting performance, the game was still within three possessions with 2:34 remaining in Game 1.
I saw the tape, and they only made five of sixteen open threes,” he remarked. I told the guys this morning that it’s a problem because they got 16 open threes. You’d be mistaken if you thought Max Strus would go 0-for-9 or Duncan Robinson would go 1-for-5 again.

The job of a coach is to see past the rainbow of success, investigate the storm of possible defeat, and return to the laboratory to continue the never-ending quest for sunshine.

The best offences miss half their shots and the top defences give up 110 points a night, yet grinders like Malone and Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra have spent their whole careers worrying over the smallest of details and chasing perfection. There’s no way they can make it. However, they hand out a massive golden award if you come close enough.

Since “we won Game 1 and we didn’t play well, and there’s so many things we can do better,” Malone informed his team that he was “excited” this morning.

The Nuggets’ most recent memory? The Heat outscored Denver 30-20 in the fourth quarter, cutting a 24-point deficit to just 9. Even though the Miami Heat had torn open the Nuggets’ zone defence in the first half, the second half saw Denver shoot just 7-for-20 from the field and go 0-for-8 from 3-point range.

“There definitely was a period in that game where we were just launching deep 3s, contested shots,” said Nuggets guard Michael Porter Jr., who missed nine of his eleven triple tries in Game 1 (which astonished Jokic).

As one of our players put it, “I don’t think we’ve really seen a zone the way they do it, so it’s hard to make adjustments in the middle of a game when you don’t really know what’s going on.”

Despite not getting the intended results, the Nuggets felt after reviewing the film that their offensive approach on those possessions was still relatively sound.
“I know Miami missed a lot of shots, but we missed some point-blank shots as well,” Murray admitted. “When they switched to a zone defence, Jokic blew a wide-open 15-footer. There was a wide-open 10-footer, and I blew it. Mike blew an easy 3-pointer in the corner.

The wing was wide open, but I failed to capitalise on a catch-and-shoot opportunity. There must be a few more of them. Still, we received the approval we required. We simply refrained from destroying them. If we take them out, I believe they will begin to dismantle the zone and revert back to man vs. man.

This might be beneficial, since Second Spectrum reports that Denver has averaged almost 1.2 points per possession against man-to-man defence in the postseason, a rate that would have topped the league in the regular season.

Malone, the Nuggets’ defensive-minded head coach, proposed a different strategy to counter the zone in Game 2.

According to Malone, “their zone was effective in that fourth quarter because they got a lot of possessions” due to our inability to stop them. “Their 60% shooting percentage allowed them to start each possession in their zone.”

The Heat began to claw back into the game by taking advantage of Denver’s drop pick-and-roll coverage.

Kyle Lowry took advantage of a slow-reacting Murray to find Gabe Vincent open for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer in the corner, and then Lowry himself ducked behind Adebayo screens to score a pair of pull-up 3-pointers.

Adebayo scored 26 points on 13-of-25 shooting with five assists as the Nuggets shifted their defence to allow their big men to play at a higher vertical plane and closer to the level of the screen.

It was a fantastic chance for me,” Adebayo stated. All of those were shots I’m comfortable with and have been making all season.

Malone doesn’t seem too bothered by his shot diet, even though he’d like not have to give up all those makes to anyone wearing a Heat uniform.

He explained that they hadn’t entered the match with the goal of losing to Bam Adebayo. “We entered with the utmost regard for Bam Adebayo. To score 26 points on 25 shots, though, is something we can tolerate.

The Heat are aware that they must provide the Nuggets with an intolerable disadvantage in order to win Game 2.

For instance: Butler continued his assaults in the paint, where he was most effective (seven of his 14 field goal tries).
“I just think I’ve got to do a better job of getting the ball, demanding the ball, and being more aggressive,” Butler said. That’s all it is, and things will be different in Game 2. … I feel like I need to be more active in applying pressure to the basket. In my opinion, that simplifies things for everyone involved. When I play with aggression on either side of the ball, [my teammates] undoubtedly mimic my style. So I’ll be the one to come out and get that started properly and then we’ll see what happens”.

Malone and the Nuggets anticipate a much more forceful and aggressive effort from Butler and the rest of the Heat on Sunday after trailing 2-0 and being knotted 1-1, respectively. All of Denver’s optimism following Game 1 might quickly dissipate if the Nuggets can’t keep up.

You can’t afford to relax and take the team for granted. Gordon warned against laziness. You shouldn’t underestimate this group.

This group never gives up. They’ll keep going at it for the duration of the match. This is a team that you can’t ignore. You have to keep your foot on the accelerator while dealing with these individuals.

It appears that Malone’s message was heard.

To paraphrase, “First round, Finals, it’s nothing until you win it, right?” As Murray put it. To paraphrase, “We haven’t won it yet.”

They would be halfway there if they could win Game 2 on Sunday. The Nuggets are sitting on a fantastic chance. The Heat’s mission is to waste it for them.

Nuggets guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope declared, “We’re here.” The 1-yard line is a dangerous place to fumble the ball.

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