Malone hails vastly improved Nuggets

Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone was delighted to see his side produce a vastly improved display to level up their second-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Nuggets triumphed 110-101 on Saturday to mark a drastic turnaround from their 120-97 loss in Game 1.

Jamal Murray put up 27 points, while team-mate Nikola Jokic finished with 26 points and 18 rebounds.

And Malone hailed his players' display, saying: "I thought we were a noticeably different team than we were in Game 1.

"Our defense, our activity and the fact that we were willing to help each other.

"The big point of emphasis coming out of Game 1 was as the game wore on, we stood, the ball didn't move, the bodies didn't move.

"We just came down and settled. We didn't make their defense work at all.

"I felt tonight there was a marked difference in our approach, our energy, our movement. And we made ourselves a lot harder to guard."

Familiar faces led the way tonight. #MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/mS93EmWajs

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) September 6, 2020

Malone is hopeful the Nuggets can maintain those high levels heading into the next game.

"Our group believes in themselves," he said.

"We've shown we're a resilient group that can execute and find ways to win in close games down the stretch.

"It's great to be able to tie the series up and have that life and belief going into the next game."