DENVER (AP) — Denver coach Michael Malone declared all five of his starters out for the exhausted Nuggets' game against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
Denver's 140-139 double-overtime home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night played a role in Malone resting his stars.
Nikola Jokic scored a career-best 61 points against Minnesota and Malone said he informed his star after that heartbreaking loss that he'd be sitting out against the Spurs less than 24 hours later.
Jokic, who has been dealing with elbow and ankle injuries, and Christian Braun, who's been dealing with a sore foot, both logged 53 minutes against the Wolves.
Also out against San Antonio were Aaron Gordon (calf), Jamal Murray (hamstring) and Michael Porter Jr., who's tending to a family situation and also missed Tuesday night's game.
“Well, I mean our identity isn't just tied to five starters,” Malone said before tip-off. “Our identity and our culture permeates the entire locker room. So, the group that we go with tonight, whoever that is, has the responsibility to go out and play Denver Nuggets basketball.
“You've heard me say this often: I don't care who's available for us. I mean, our expectation and our preparation is to go out there and win this game,” Malone added. “It's not going to be easy, obviously. But we have more than enough in that locker room to go out there and beaet the Spurs.”
In the past, Jokic has fought to play on nights Malone wanted him to rest, but Malone said this time he wasn't open for a discussion over the issue.
“I looked at the stat sheet and I saw he played a lot of minutes, so it was a back-to-back and I just went up to him after the game, I said, ‘Hey, you’re out tomorrow.' This wasn't going to be a discussion. Because Nikola will play through anything and sometimes you have to be the coach,” Malone said. “And he understood.”
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