“Denver Nuggets mailed it in”: Charles Barkley was indignant with Mike Malone’s wards for their disappointing performance in Game 2 vs Suns

A disappointed Charles Barkley weighs in on the Denver Nuggets losing Game 2 against the Phoenix Suns despite Nikola Jokic playing well.

Last night’s game between the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns yielded the same result as the first with the Suns winning the game 123- 98. The Nuggets are now down by two in the second round of the playoffs and still haven’t been able to find their footing against the Chris Paul led squad.

Also read: “Chris Paul doesn’t see us or feel us”: Mike Malone blasts his perimeter defenders for allowing CP3 to dice up the Nuggets’ defense in Suns’ Game 2 win

Chris Paul, who is recovering from a nagging shoulder injury, led the charge as the floor general scoring 17 points 15 assists and zero turnovers. Cp3’s assist to turn over ratio in the series is now an unbelievable 26-1. Devin Booker put up 18 points and 10 rebounds in a game that saw the entire starting five for the Suns leaving the floor having scored in double digits.

The Joker ended the game with 24 points 13 rebounds and 6 assists which weren’t enough to lead his team to victory. Multiple players on the Nuggets squad including Michael Porter Jr and Aaron Gordon gave underwhelming performances scoring 11 and 6 respectively.

Head coach for the Nuggets, Michael Malone seemed distraught and disappointed with his team’s performance saying the following in a post-game interview:

“I saw one team that wanted to be here and play with a purpose and urgency, and one team that did not want to be here and played with no urgency. That’s why we got our (expletive) kicked.” 

Charles Barkley believes the Denver Nuggets ‘Packed it in’ against the Phoenix Suns in Game 2 

The NBA on TNT crew had some choice words for the Denver Nuggets after their game last night and Charles Barkley wasn’t going to mince any of his when it came to their sub-par performance. 

 “This game reminded me of the Milwaukee Bucks the other night, where they’re like, we just quit, this game is over we’re not gonna compete”   – Charles Barkley

Chuck went on to talk about the lack of effort the Nuggets seems to put in when things weren’t going their way and believes they were mentally clocked out way before the final buzzer.  Co-host Shaquille O’Neal also felt along the same lines and while he had earlier picked the Nuggets to win the game had this to say 

“Guys weren’t hitting shots so they sulked, they quit, they settled”

Also read: “I Know I Didn’t Quit”: Nikola Jokic Fires Back At Denver Nuggets Coach Mike Malone Saying “I Felt We Quit Tonight” After Ugly Blowout Loss In Game 2

It seems that while the absence of Jamal Murray in the first round against the Blazers wasn’t too much of a blow for the Nuggets, they certainly seem like they could use him now. In order to overcome the tedious task of defeating the Phoenix Suns, the Nuggets will have to put up a valiant effort in front of their home crowd for the next two games .