"We all stayed in LA BTW! and had a great win": Jamal Murray clarifies his bold excuse after Nuggets' blowout loss vs. Knicks
After beating the Lakers 127-102 on Saturday, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets headed home for a matchup against the New York Knicks on Monday. The Nuggets played sluggish in the first half, trailing 76-53 after two quarters. Murray and Co. were booed by their fans a handful of times before losing 145-118.
After the loss, which Nuggets coach Mike Malone called embarrassing, Murray wrote on X, formerly Twitter:
“We all stayed in LA BTW! and had a great win. Not excluding myself guys we didn’t play together tonight.”
The tweet from Murray was a clarification of what he said to the media in the postgame conference (via Harrison Wind):
"It's a long season. Guys have lives outside of basketball. We just beat LA in LA. We've got some guys who live in LA, so stayed in LA. I don't think the focus was there from everybody, and that's what happens when you don't have the focus."
The Nuggets didn’t just have their usual focus and were lethargic most of the night, particularly on the defensive end. New York dissected the hosts with 45 assists, 17 of which came from All-Star guard Jalen Brunson. The lefty guard ran rings around Murray, scattering 23 points on top of his game-high dishes.
Nikola Jokic also had a rare off night. The reigning MVP put up 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, well below his averages of 30.3 points, 13.9 rebounds and 11.3 assists per game.
With Jokic and Jamal Murray failing to contribute as they normally do, the Knicks blew away the Nuggets.
Mike Malone calls out Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray after the Knicks “embarrassed” the Nuggets
Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone did not hold back in his postgame press conference. He had this to say to Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray (via Rachel Strand):
"I need Nikola Jokic. I need Jamal Murray. I need guys that have been here in that starting lineup to be vocal. Tonight, we got embarrassed. Let’s be honest, it happened tonight for four quarters [and] it happened in the first half against Dallas. 16 games in and we’re talking about effort, we’re talking about toughness [and] we’re talking about physicality.”
Murray recognized how the Nuggets' lack of focus did them in. The players have “lives outside of basketball,” but Malone just called them out for not putting in the effort, toughness and physicality early into the season.
How Denver responds to Malone's stinging criticism will be worth watching. Jamal Murray and the Nuggets visit the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.