Michael Malone reflects on a hard end to the season after the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled off a historic comeback to beat the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets let a 20-point lead slip in the third quarter at home to lose 98-90 in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals as the Timberwolves denied them a chance at a second straight league title.
Minnesota trailed 53-38 at half-time – the largest deficit a Game 7 winner has overcome in NBA post-season history.
Asked what went wrong in the second half, Malone did not have too many answers.
"That's what's hard," Malone said. "F*** being up 20. Season's over. It's hard."
"This is just a momentary delay. It's a failure, it's not fatal. We'll be back.
"The better team won, so I'm taking nothing away from Minnesota ... but mentally, emotionally, physically, I think guys are gassed. They're dead tired.
"They gave me everything I could ever ask for, and that's why as much as this hurts, I'll walk out of this building tonight with my head held very high."
Denver dropped the first two games of the series at home but won the next three to get themselves back on track to challenge for a repeat NBA title.
Jamal Murray scored 35 points for the Nuggets, while Nikola Jokic added 34, but the former thinks the team were just lacking an edge at the end of the game.
"Just mentally and physically, conjuring up the energy to fight like you're being hunted," Murray said. "I think that's the emotion.
"When you're the hunter, you have so much more motivation and you grasp on to anything to prove everybody wrong and you have a constant chip on your shoulder.
"I don't know. I feel like we should have won tonight. That's the tough part. They beat us, but we had so many great opportunities, including myself, so it's just tough, man."
Report: Malik Monk returns to Kings on four-year contract
The Sacramento Kings will retain a key piece into the foreseeable future as they look to build upon two straight trips to the NBA's play-in tournament.
Deft scoring guard Malik Monk agreed to remain with the Kings on a four-year, $78million contract, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported late Thursday night.
The last year of the deal reportedly carries a player option.
Monk set career highs last season by averaging 15.4 points and 5.1 assists while finishing second in Sixth Man of the Year award voting.
Monk, a seven-year veteran out of Kentucky, was due to be an unrestricted free agent on June 30.
Monk had been linked to several teams searching for an infusion of perimeter scoring in free agency, including the Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic, but those clubs will now need to look elsewhere.
Monk has averaged 11.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 458 career NBA games.
While the Kings have yet to win a play-off series since 2004, Sacramento have strung together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2004-06. In 2023, the club ended a 16-year post-season drought and forced the defending champion Golden State Warriors to a Game 7 in their first-round play-off series loss.
Report: Malik Monk returns to Kings on 4-year contract
The Sacramento Kings will retain a key piece into the foreseeable future as they look to build upon two straight trips to the NBA’s play-in tournament.
Deft scoring guard Malik Monk agreed to remain with the Kings on a four-year, $78million contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported late Thursday night.
The last year of the deal reportedly carries a player option.
Monk set career highs last season by averaging 15.4 points and 5.1 assists while finishing second in Sixth Man of the Year award voting.
Monk, a seven-year veteran out of Kentucky, was due to be an unrestricted free agent on June 30.
Monk had been linked to several teams searching for an infusion of perimeter scoring in free agency, including the Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic, but those clubs will now need to look elsewhere.
Monk has averaged 11.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 458 career NBA games.
While the Kings have yet to win a play-off series since 2004, Sacramento have strung together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2004-06. In 2023, the club ended a 16-year post-season drought and forced the defending champion Golden State Warriors to a Game 7 in their first-round play-off series loss.
Thunder reportedly acquiring Caruso from Bulls for Giddey
Oklahoma City and Chicago have swapped guards, with the Thunder acquiring Alex Caruso from the Bulls in exchange for Josh Giddey on Thursday.
ESPN was the first to report the trade, which cannot become official until July 6.
The 30-year-old Caruso is considered one of the NBA's top defenders, having been named to a pair of All-Defensive teams.
He is also viewed as an important role player for a potential championship contender after helping the Los Angeles Lakers win the 2019-20 title.
The Thunder finished with the Western Conference's best record this past season, but were knocked out of the play-offs in the semi-final round by the Dallas Mavericks.
A seven-year NBA veteran, Caruso averaged career highs of 10.1 points and 3.8 rebounds this past season, along with 3.5 assists and 1.69 steals while starting 57 of 71 games.
Giddey, the sixth overall pick of the 2021 draft, started 80 games for the Thunder this past season, but saw his numbers drop from 2022-23.
After averaging 16.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists in his second season, the 21-year-old Giddey averaged 12.3 points, 6.4 boards and 4.8 assists in 2023-24. He is a career 46.4 per cent shooter from 3-point range.
He was investigated for having an improper relationship with an underage girl, but the NBA and police were "unable to corroborate any criminal activity."
The NBA dropped its investigation.
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