Kendrick Perkins believes Michael Malone isn’t being accountable when it comes to the Denver Nuggets losing so many games.
The Denver Nuggets are in the midst of a downward spiral. Despite the heroics of Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets are on a four-game losing streak.
The frustration is setting in for Jokic, who looked visibly irate during their loss to the Warriors. And after their subsequent loss to the Pacers, fans demanded that the Nuggets get Jokic some help.
The injury to Jamal Murray has not helped the matter. Michael Malone recently revealed Murray’s injury is a lot worse than initially expected.
Jokic and the Nuggets’ recent losing streak is similar to one we’ve seen in the MLB. But Kendrick Perkins believes Michael Malone deserves more of the blame than he is receiving.
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Speaking on NBA Today, Kendrick Perkins went off on Michael Malone and the Denver Nuggets. He believes Malone isn’t taking responsibility for the four-game losing streak.
Perkins added that the Nuggets may not have Murray, but they have a strong enough roster to continue winning games. He believes Malone needs to step up and remind the players of what needs to be done.
“They got enough to win games. They got enough not to be on a four-game losing streak. We asking guys that has some athleticism to actually go out and defend.”
“Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., Christian Braun, the kid Watson that come off the bench, and you mean to tell me that they going to be giving up that many points in the game while Jokic is putting up historic numbers? We can’t do that.”
“That is a reflection of the coach. When you’re talking about guys putting forth the effort, competing defensively, that means that they are not actually listening to the coach any more.
“I’m not calling for Michael Malone’s job, I am calling for some kind of accountability on his part. “What do we need to do better to get the ears and the attention of those guys in the locker room.”
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As things stand, the Nuggets are 1.5 games behind the Lakers in the third seed. Their hope will be that they can recover the third seed, although that might be difficult.
But there is an even worse scenario possible. With the gap in the Western Conference being so marginal, the Nuggets could fall back as far as 7th seed in the West.
The fact is that other teams behind them like the Warriors, Timberwolves, and Clippers all have the tiebreaker ahead of them.
The Nuggets cannot afford to extend their losing streak beyond four games. That is why a win against the Sacramento Kings in their next game is of paramount importance.
