“You try to embarrass me? As soon as we get in the locker room imma’ knock your damn dentures down your throat” - Shaquille O'Neal on the DeMarcus Cousins-Will Barton altercation, says Boogie did the right thing

Shaquille O'Neal would have taken none of Will Barton's tirade had the big man been in DeMarcus Cousins' place. [Photo: Larry Brown Sports]

Shaquille O'Neal was part of the NBA on TNT crew who were covering the Game 2 matchup between the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors. The lopsided drubbing handed out by the Warriors got even more bizarre as DeMarcus Cousins and Will Barton almost went at it on the Nuggets’ bench.

The Nuggets were so out of sorts in the third quarter that head coach Mike Malone called for a ceasefire to regroup his troops. It was during this timeout that Demarcus Cousins, who was on the bench, greeted teammates, with the exception of Will Barton.

Barton seemed incensed by something Cousins did or did not do that he kept on shouting and daring the Nuggets’ backup big man to do something. On an episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, Shaquille O'Neal emphasized this:

“Boogie did the right thing, but imma tell Will Barton, ‘Okay, You try to embarrass me? As soon as we get in the locker room imma knock your damn dentures down your throat, imma knock your teeth out… It would have been some furniture flying if that was me, I’m telling you that right now.”

The Denver Nuggets had a 12-point lead in the second quarter before the Golden State Warriors’ hot hands responded with a 16-0 blast. It went downhill at that point as the Bay Area team hung 44 points on Denver in the third quarter.

Will Barton and DeMarcus Cousins. 👀

https://t.co/UZNKSIEIg4

The Nuggets’ versatile small forward was helplessly roving around the perimeter, guarding the deadly trio of Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Barton finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds but just couldn't stop the barrage of points from the Warriors’ new vaunted Big 3.

Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Jordan Poole are the best offensive trio in the NBA. Draymond Green is the league’s best defender. Warriors have depth, experience. Other teams have injuries. The Death Lineup is back. Golden State is the favorite again.

Shaquille O’Neal commented later that the frustration could boil to the next game. It didn’t even reach that point at the time as Barton and Cousins had a heated back-and-forth.

Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley predicted an early end to the series between the Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors

Shaquille O'Neal and Charles Barkley predicted the Golden State Warriors to take away the Denver Nuggets' lunch if Steph Curry is healthy. [Photo: Sportcasting]

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have been punching more than their weight in the regular season. Without two of their best players for basically the entire season, the Nuggets still made it outright to the playoffs.

The Nuggets, as Shaquille O'Neal pointed out, just don’t have enough firepower to seriously threaten the Golden State Warriors. Game 3 of the series was every bit as the Hall-of-Fame big man anticipated. Denver came out playing very well and threatened to wrest control of the game with a huge third quarter.

Fought to the end. https://t.co/cGcqLXFcZd

Denver’s onslaught, however, would be short-lived as the Golden State Warriors’ poise and firepower just proved to be too much down the stretch. After missing the last two postseasons, the Warriors are on the verge of a sweep of the overachieving Denver Nuggets.