NBA Finals: Coach Michael Malone rips apart Denver Nuggets' defence after Game 2 loss

Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone called out his team's defense in the last quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, saying the team didn't play well. Malone also pointed out that the team didn't play well in the first game's final quarter as well.

While the Nuggets won the first game, they lost the second game after the Miami Heat were able to hold on to a three-point lead for a 111-108 victory after outscoring Denver 36-25 in 4Q.

"Let's talk about effort," said Malone post game. "This is the NBA Finals. We are talking about effort. That's a huge concern of mine. You guys probably thought I was just making up some storyline after Game 1 when I said we didn't play well. We didn't play well.

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"Tonight, the starting lineup to start the game, it was 10-2 Miami. Start of the third quarter, they scored 11 points in [just over two minutes]. We had guys out there that were just, whether feeling sorry for themselves for not making shots or thinking they can just turn it on or off -- this is not the preseason, this is not the regular season. This is the NBA Finals. That, to me, is really, really perplexing, disappointing."

Denver star Nikola Jokic who scored 41 points in the game, said, "They just put us in their rhythm. And we didn't want to play that way, and they want to, obviously. But maybe just to play a little bit faster is going to help us."

Malone lamented the show his defense put in the final 12 minutes of the game and said that Miami were able to get points in whatever form they wanted.

"They started the fourth quarter 13-2," said the head coach. "To me, the wheels really fell off to start that fourth quarter. They were getting whatever they wanted, 3s, layups, and that allowed them once again to sit back in their zone offense, slow the game down, and we had a hard time getting stops -- and then we had a hard time getting made baskets on the other end.

"Our defense has to be a hell of a lot better. That's two fourth quarters, Game 1 and Game 2, where our fourth-quarter defense has been nonexistent."

The Nuggets, who are playing in their first ever NBA Finals, were outworked by Miami, acknowledged Malone and said that it was the team's least disciplined playoff game.

"Miami came in here and outworked us. And we were, by far, our least disciplined game of these 16 or 17 playoff games. So many breakdowns. They exploited every one of our breakdowns and scored. If we're going to try to go down there and regain control of this series and get home-court advantage back, we're going to have to outwork Miami, which we didn't do tonight, and our discipline is going to have to be off the charts," said the coach.

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