Sweeping the Lakers in the play-offs allowed the Nuggets to save strength but while waiting to find out who the Heat or the Celtics will face in the championship final, the risk of losing the rhythm is great, in the eyes of coach Michael Malone.
Their qualification was recorded on Monday in Los Angeles and the N.1 match awaiting them, at home if Miami joins them, in Boston if the Celtics qualify, will not take place until next Thursday. That is nine days without a match, while in the East, the two aforementioned rivals are still scrapping, the Heat leading 3 to 2.
“You’ve been playing every other day for a while and suddenly you have an eight, nine, ten day break. But it’s impossible to keep up your rhythm if you don’t play. You can do whatever you want at training, but there’s no way to replicate a play-off game,” Malone agreed on Friday.
There is obviously the physical parameter, the need to keep the rhythm, which counts. But also the difficulty of tactically approaching a series in unknown territory.
“It’s a difficult situation because you’re preparing to face an opponent, but you don’t know who you’re going to play. That’s why, as I told our players, for now it’s it’s about us first,” he said, explaining that he does sessions that focus on fine-tuning certain aspects of the Nuggets’ game, while focusing on keeping his team focused.
“It’s a precarious balance to find, because you have to take advantage of the moments we live. If you don’t appreciate the small victories and the moments that punctuate your journey, you are missing out on something,” he said. -he declares. “At the same time, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Our goal was not just to reach the final, but to win it”.
“I think it’s my duty to remind our guys not to listen to everyone who tells you how awesome you are. Because then you’re going to go soft. I don’t want that to happen. produce, I want us to stay hungry, desperate, rushed and disciplined, and that’s our biggest challenge right now.”
