Nuggets bench goes viral for wrong reasons in Game 3 loss to Jazz

The Nuggets lost by a wide margin in Game 3, and the side-effects are a Twitter meme

Denver’s Game 1 victory feels like a long, long time ago at this juncture, with the Jazz winning both Games 2 and 3, and the latest triumph coming in impressive blowout fashion. But this isn’t a recap of those events. Rather, the Nuggets didn’t take this defeat in stride.

Losing by 37 points will do that to even the strongest of units, but the Nuggets still have such a young core that it’s understandable why Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic and Co. would take this L very personally. Without any sort of home-court to return to, Denver is facing a talented Utah team who just returned their floor general in Mike Conley, Jr. Things look bleak.

Sure, the Nuggets face a 2-1 deficit, but is the outlook really that bad?

Denver’s only win this series came in overtime, when they somehow found a way to overcome a 50-point effort from Donovan Mitchell. After being thoroughly outplayed in Game 2, Mike Malone’s group showed next to no resilience in Game 3. Instead, they fell flat on their faces, going down double-digits and never recovering. Rather than fighting to some sort of respectable outcome, the effort appeared lacking at times, and the bench knew it.

If Malone is paying attention, he’ll use this as fuel for Game 4 in what could be a last-ditch effort to avoid being sent home from the bubble far sooner than this promising young team expected in the outset.

https://twitter.com/helliotalderson/status/1296936230307823616

In this case, Twitter fame is nearly as rough as the actual result. For the Nuggets’ sake, they better learn to contain Conley, Mitchell and Rudy Gobert (yes, Gobert) on the offensive end of the floor, or this won’t be the last time they’re embarrassed online.