Nuggets coach Michael Malone unloads on team after 'embarrassing' loss to Wizards

Jeff Zillgitt | USA TODAY

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WASHINGTON — Unhappy might be an understatement to describe Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone in his postgame press conference.

"We didn’t show up," Malone said after the Nuggets, a contender in the Western Conference, lost to the Washington Wizards, a basement dweller in the East.

"That was embarrassing performance. We had a mindset that we can just show up and win a game because maybe some of their starters were out. What happened tonight was exactly what the doctor ordered. I’m embarrassed, I really am. We as a group, as a team, as a coaching staff, players, got our ass kicked tonight."

The Wizards won 128-114 and scored at least 30 points in all four quarters. They outrebounded the Nuggets 49-33, outscored them in the paint 72-52, had 26 second-chance points and 92 bench points — 92! — including a career-high 32 from guard Ish Smith.

Led by a career-high 32 PTS from Ish Smith, the @WashWizards bench combines for 92 in the home win. pic.twitter.com/tx2nIVmRvq — NBA (@NBA) January 5, 2020

The 92 points are the second-most by a bench unit since those stats were tracked starting in 1970-71, according to Elias Sports Bureau, and it happened just days after Washington set a then-franchise record with 80 bench points against Miami.

"Think about that," Malone said of the bench points. "That’s a real number right there. Embarrassing performance. Unacceptable. All of the above."

The diatribe continued.

"We didn’t come with the proper mindset," Malone said. "Give them a lot of credit. All their players played at a level much higher than we did. They were locked in, played hard, determined, focused, aggressive and we were the complete opposite. Just really disappointing with the mindset and the focus and the approach that we had to this game and that starts with me."

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Malone had trouble finding any silver lining in the loss to the 11-24 Wizards, who also beat Miami earlier in the week.

"We’re going to have to look at it and find a group that is willing to at least go out there and fight," Malone said. "I felt we had some guys out there that were just out there. Didn’t impose their will. Didn’t impose their physicality, had no presence. ... Ish had his way in the paint, finished. Best player on the floor by a mile."

Even thought the Nuggets entered the game winners of 10 of their past 12 games, Houston clobbered them 130-104 on New Year’s Eve in one loss, and New Orleans beat Denver 112-110 in the other loss.

"Obviously, we have to find a way to look ourselves in the mirror and be honest with ourselves, and I hope our players are willing to do that," Malone said.

Denver is 24-11 and tied for second place in the West.

"Our defense the last seven games is bottom in the league," Malone said. "Tonight was another awful performance. We have guys that don’t rebound the ball. They just stand there and watch and get outworked. Houston just humbled us. Two games later we needed to be humbled again?

"The reality is this is the NBA. I don’t care who plays. They’re professional players. All their players are playing for something. ... Where was our resolve? Where was our fight? Where was our maturity in terms of approaching the game the right way? You can talk about it, but at the end of the day, you have to be about it and we were not about the right things tonight."

That was the end of Malone’s news conference, and as he returned to the locker room, he finished, "Sorry you had to watch that."

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.