Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone took a shot at Boston Celtics fans who traveled to the Mile High City for the March 7 matchup between the 2023 NBA Champions and the 2024 title frontrunners after his team won 115-109; handing the Cs their second straight loss and just their second multi-game losing streak of the season.
"You've got to give the Celtics fans credit," Malone said during the postgame presser (h/t DNVR Sports' Harrison Wind). "They always come out strong. But you know what we say. They can take that L on the way out, baby."
Malone's comments are salt in the wound after a game where the Celtics arguably beat themselves. As NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg points out, Boston was sloppy handling the ball and couldn't hit their free-throws.
"Poor passing was a theme in Boston's loss," Forsberg prefaced before saying, "The Nuggets took advantage of the lackluster ball movement on several occasions as the C's turned the ball over 12 times. Denver racked up 16 points off turnovers and 19 fastbreak points. Tatum was the primary culprit for the Celtics with five of the team's 12 TOs. Boston also struggled mightily from the free-throw line. It was just 16-of-25 while Denver went a near-perfect 21-for-22 from the charity stripe. Brown missed seven of his 14 free-throw attempts. That was the difference in the Nuggets' six-point victory."
Boston Celtics still have issues to fix before the playoffs
Per NBC Sports Boston statistician and researcher Dick Lipe, the Celtics are just 1-6 since January 1 against teams with a .600 winning percentage or better. Ipso facto, Boston have work to do before the playoffs to ensure this historic season doesn't end in what would be the most profound heartbreak for Celtics fans.
Joe Mazzulla has to figure out how to get his team to take care of the ball better and not waste possessions late in games killing clock. Otherwise, this team will be one of the biggest "what-if's" in NBA history.