Michael Malone’s individual film reviews this week keep encountering a distraction at the end.
His eyes wander from what’s transpiring on the court and focus instead on his team’s sideline, where the Nuggets are about to erupt into a celebration they’ll someday tell their grandchildren about.
His objective, of course, is to leave Jamal Murray’s Game 2 buzzer-beater in the rearview mirror for the time being. Denver still needs to win twice more to eliminate the Lakers. But Malone is only human.
“I go through the film probably five times. And every time I watch it, I get just as excited,” he said Wednesday before the Nuggets flew to Los Angeles. “And not just at the shot, but the reaction. I’m looking at (lead assistant coach) David Adelman jumping in the air. (Head athletic trainer) Dan Shimensky running around like he’s a 2-year-old. The bench reaction. The fans. Fans behind the bench aren’t even watching the game. They’re watching it on the jumbotron, which is so weird to me. It’s happening right in front of you, and they’re like this.”
Malone craned his neck, mimicking the crowd.
“It was a great moment,” he continued. “Those are the moments that you will talk about and relive for 50 years from now.”
Even in the immediate aftermath of the shot, which gave Denver a 2-0 series lead in the first-round matchup, Malone and the Nuggets displayed a healthy sense of perspective for the history of the moment combined with an understanding of what they still need to accomplish. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope spoke to the team in an ecstatic postgame locker room.
“The message was just, ‘Take this moment. Enjoy it. We’ve got a couple days off. Tonight, enjoy this moment,'” he repeated afterward. And after Monday night: “We’ve still got business to take care of when we go to L.A. Just stay with the business mindset and let’s get it done.”
Denver is still 11 for 42 on wide-open 3-pointers in the series. Players other than Michael Porter Jr. are shooting 14 for 29 overall from beyond the arc — a dismal 23.7%. On one hand, it’s a testament to the Nuggets’ imposing stature in the West and their resolve that they managed to win both home games anyway. On the other hand, as players pointed out, they were supposed to win both home games in the first place. All they’ve done entering Game 3 on Thursday (8 p.m. MT, TNT) in Los Angeles is hold serve.
“They’re gonna show up really aggressive,” Porter said of the Lakers. “They’ve shown they can play with us on our home floor. They’ve been up big both games. If I was on their team, I’m sure they have a lot of confidence. Just knowing that they were in the game both games, had big leads. So going back home, I’m sure they feel confident.”
The Nuggets’ top priority at their pre-flight practice? Have the lead after the first quarter this time. No more double-digit deficits early in these games.
Holding a lead has its own baggage, but Malone figures they can cross that bridge when they get there.
“History would tell you that when we have a big lead, we tend to relax. And we tend to abandon what afforded us the lead that we had,” he said. “So when you’re down by 20, you become urgent, you become desperate, you become hungry.”
His late father, Brendan Malone, used to always tell him he felt nervous watching the game whenever Denver took a big lead.
Denver Nuggets draws up a play in a game in which his team trailed by as many as 20 to the Los Angeles Lakers during the third quarter at Ball Arena in Denver on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
“So hopefully we get a lead,” Malone said, “but it’s not too big of a lead.”
In the meantime, looking back at the film of Game 2 is maybe worth the victory lap.
“It was a hell of a play and one of those shots. Has a nickname been given to it yet?” Malone asked. One was suggested to him: The Shot at 5280. “That’s a lot. We’ve gotta work on that. I’m gonna come up with something better than ‘The shot at 5280.'”
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