After their nine-game winning row snapped pretty uncomfortably, Denver Nuggets sees to regroup in time for a matchup against Indiana Pacers on Monday in Indianapolis.
Nuggets never led a 123-100 home loss to Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night. Los Angeles made a dominant performance after losing its last five meetings against Denver.
Lakers was flushing up Denver Center Nikola Jokic, which was held to her other-final points in a game this season (12) on 2-7 shooting.
Nuggets are now starting a four-game trip to the playoff challenger in the Eastern Conference Indiana, Milwaukee, Detroit and Boston after committing 22 turnover against Los Angeles.
“No one will be afraid that Denver Nuggets will come to town,” coach Michael Malone said after Saturday’s loss. “So we have to play much better than we did tonight. … We have to understand that we can’t just trust our crime. We were an average of 128 points per match on our nine game victory. And tonight we had 100. So so When we do not score, when we do not make pictures, what should we do? ”
Nuggets will surely need an improved offensive effort against the high pounding pacers, which have won three straight.
Indiana sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and leads Bucks with only half a game.
Tyrese Haliburton recorded his 16th double double of the season with 29 points and 12 assists in a 129-111 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. Aaron Nesmith added a season high 19 points.
The pacers turned in a dominant performance against the short hand, which played without Norman Powell (left knee seed) and Kawhi Leonard (left foot tenderness). Indiana led by as many as 22 and shot 54.8 percent from the field.
“I thought we did a good job of maintaining our Poise and maintaining our attention to details for 48 minutes,” said Haliburton, who has received at least 20 points in three straight matches.
The pacers monitor the status as point guard TJ McConnell, who spray his right ankle during the fourth quarter on Sunday’s game and did not return.
Indiana has lost its last eight meetings against Denver, which holds No. 3 seeds in the Western conference.
“We look forward to competing against another good team,” Haliburton said. “Of course Jokic has one (good) year and that team has a (good) year. Just look forward to seeing where we stack against them and hopefully keep what we have started.”
Nuggets had few bright spots in Saturday’s loss for Lakers, but forward Aaron Gordon filled the box with 24 points on 9-AV-15 shooting, including 4 out of 7 from 3-point intervals.
Gordon shoots 42.7 percent beyond the arch this season compared to 29 percent last season.
After Saturday’s game, Denver praised Jamal Murray Gordon for his contributions on both ends of the floor.
“It’s not just his three,” Murray said. “His three obviously got a little better, but I think only his entire game. Where he chooses his places, how much he gets to the edge, free throw. He always has a very complete game. Although he has a low point in total or what anyway, he still has impact. ”
-Field level media
