The Nuggets couldn’t keep their six-game win streak going in a 124-88 loss to the Pacers in Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Denver was on the final game of its four-game road trip, playing its third game in four nights, and it showed after the first quarter. Bojan Bogdanović dominated the visitors with 35 points on 13-of-16 shooting for Indiana. Nikola Jokic almost had another triple-double as he scored 19 points, grabbed 11 boards and dished 8 assists, but it wasn’t enough against a determined Pacers side that just returned from a winless road trip.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone did not mince words after the game.
“I felt this was an embarrassing effort on our part – it’s really inexcusable,” Malone said. “This time of the year, to go into anybody’s building and be down by 41 points, there’s nothing you can say about it. It was embarrassing effort by all of us. “
The Nuggets entered the second quarter trailing 27-23, but couldn’t not keep up in the second quarter. The Pacers got off to a hot start, going on a 11-4 run to take a 27-38 lead. Indiana-native Gary Harris tried to rally Denver back as his bucket cut the score to 31-38, but then Bogdanović got going. The Croatian forward poured in the biggest half of his career, pouring in 26 points off of 10-of-10 shooting. Despite multiple defensive looks, the Nuggets couldn’t contain the 29-year-old in the first half. Denver would enter halftime trailing 62-46.
When the two sides got back on the court, Denver cut the score to 67-56 after Will Barton finally saw a tip in shot go in after three attempts. The moment looked like it might spark the team to another one of its famous comeback wins, but the Pacers would immediately respond with a back-breaking 19-4 run.
Malone would pull his starters in the fourth quarter as the team’s reserves would close out the game. He has expressed his concerns over the team’s inconsistent play over throughout its road trip and wouldn’t rest on any laurels after it finished the trip 3-1.
“I mean 3-1 overall from a results standpoint is a pretty good road trip, but to be honest, even in those wins, there’s a lot left that we left to be desired in terms of how we played,” Malone said. “Tonight, the inconsistent basketball reared its ugly head for 48 minutes.
Denver had nine turnovers and was outrebounded, outassisted and outscored in the paint in the first half. The team would finish the game shooting 35.5 percent and had a 72-42 disparity in points in the paint.
“We just need to forget about this game,” Jokić said in an effort to sum up Sunday's result.
The Nuggets return to Denver on Sunday night and will have a much-needed day off before playing the Pistons at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday night (TV: ALTITUDE, RADIO: KKSE-FM 92.5/KKSE 950, STREAM: ALTITUDE NOW).