The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, but just barely.
The Nuggets walked away with a 131-126 victory over the Lakers, but LA was without Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Jaxson Hayes, Rui Hachimura, and more.
Many people thought the Nuggets would sail to a win, but they didn’t.
Because of that, head coach Michael Malone wasn’t too pleased with his team’s output and a post-game gesture showed that.
According to a video shared by Oh No He Didn’t, per Legion Hoops, Malone picked up the printed box score, crumpled it up, and tossed it aside before speaking with the press.
“This isn’t a beauty pageant. We don’t get rated on our wins. It’s a win,” Malone said.
Michael Malone crumbled up the box score after Lakers-Nuggets
“This isn’t a beauty pageant. We don’t get rated on our wins, it’s a win.”
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24)pic.twitter.com/1X9tnSGj1Q
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 15, 2025
Malone is correct when he says a win is a win but this was an alarming one for the Nuggets.
It was assumed they’d have no problems against the Lakers because the team was lacking its two superstar scorers and most defensive support.
But the Lakers came out of the gate strong and played a great game from beginning to end.
Austin Reaves was a sensational team leader and Dalton Knecht had one of his best games yet.
Meanwhile, Denver’s defense was lacking and they were able to get outplayed many times.
In fact, there was a stretch of the game when the Lakers held a lead and looked like they were going to do the seemingly impossible.
This win is a red flag for Denver because defense will be a huge part of the playoffs and if they wish to return to the Finals, they will need to figure out how to solve their problems.
The Nuggets are still the second seed in the West and have a 43-24 record.
But this game proves that anything can happen and no one will go easy on them.
They don’t want more bad nights like this, particularly during the playoffs.
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