Third-quarter wors haunt Denver again
New opponent. Same problem. The Nuggets’ third-quarter curse continues.
On Monday, in a 125-112 loss to the Bucks, it was yet another second-half letdown that ultimately flipped momentum inside Ball Arena.
The Nuggets led the majority of the first two quarters before getting outscored 34-26 in the third frame.
The Nuggets (12-11), riding a three-game losing streak, will aim to reverse their fortunes on Wednesday night against the Cavaliers as the second matchup of a four-game homestand.
Jamal Murray returned to the starting lineup on Monday following a one-game injury absence (knee) and contributed a modest 11 points, three rebounds and four assists. Nikola Jokic led all players with 35 points.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo — entering the game averaging 27.1 points, 11.2 rebounds and five assists per game — was dominant as usual with starting teammate Jrue Holliday announced as inactive just before tipoff. Antetokounmpo dropped 21 of his 30 total points after halftime in addition to nine rebounds.
“None of our guys are going to be able to guard Giannis one-onone,” Malone said before the game. “The amount of shooters they have around him, that’s where I am talking about multiple efforts. … Great players like Giannis put a lot of pressure on your defense in many different ways.”
But Malone stressed that the outcome would not boil down to simply Nikola vs. Giannis, specifically when you consider Milwaukee’s strength scoring in transition.
Malone said in pregame: “If we are lazy to get back, or unwilling to get back, they will be scoring easy basket after easy basket.”
The Bucks scored 16 fast-break points on Monday, building upon their identity as the best transition offense in the league.
Former Nuggets forward Torrey Craig returned to Denver for the first time as a member of the Bucks since joining the team in free agency this offseason.
Several players and Malone shared pregame embraces with Craig, and the videoboard inside Ball Arena played a short tribute with Craig game highlights and interview outtakes.
“I miss Torrey Craig, the person,” Malone said. “I have a lot of respect for who he is and the journey he took to get where he is. Obviously, when he does get a chance to play, he gives relentless effort.”
But the warm and fuzzy feelings were short-lived.
Craig came off the bench and cashed in consecutive 3-pointers to begin the game as both teams opened with a scoring free-forall.
The Nuggets and Bucks combined for 79 first-quarter points, including a total of 29 attempted 3-pointers, with Denver leading 42-37 entering the second quarter. The Nuggets held Milwaukee to 22 in the second quarter to maintain a 3-point advantage at halftime, 62-59.
Injured Denver guards Gary Harris (thigh) and PJ Dozier (hamstring) were inactive on Monday. It marks a third-missed game for Harris, with Michael Porter Jr. taking his place in the starting lineup.
MEL B OURNE, AUSTR A LI A » Sure, Sofia Kenin struggled in her first match as a defending champion at a Grand Slam tournament.
The 22-year-old from Florida struggled with jitters at the Australian Open. Struggled with her shots. Struggled against an opponent who’s never won a tour-level match.
Kenin, though, knows all that really matters: Who can claim the final point. And, eventually, she managed to do just that Tuesday (Monday MST) at Melbourne Park, setting aside an early deficit and beating 133rd-ranked Australian wild-card entry Maddison Inglis 7-5, 6-4.
“I’m obviously not too happy with the way I played,” Kenin said with a chuckle, “but a win is a win.”
Inglis is still searching for one: She fell to 0-6 for her career.
Still, boosted by a crowd of locals at Rod Laver Arena, she did not make things easy on Kenin, who nevertheless managed to avoid becoming the first woman since Jennifer Capriati in 2003 to lose in the first round at the Australian Open a year after winning the championship.
“First round, it’s obviously nerves for me,” said Kenin, who followed up her first major title last year by reaching the final at the French Open.
The woman Kenin defeated for the title in last year’s final in Melbourne, twotime major champion Garbiñe Muguruza, also advanced to the second round, defeating Margarita Gasparyan of Russia 6-4, 6-0.
Muguruza dropped only 11 points in the second set and improved to 9-0 in first-round matches at the Australian Open.
In other early results on Day 2 on a sunny day with the temperature in the low 70s Fahrenheit (low 20s Celsius), 17year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to win a Grand Slam match since Thanasi Kokkinakis was one day younger at the 2014 Australian Open.
Alcaraz eliminated
Botic
Van de
Zandschulp, a 25-year-old from the Netherlands who is ranked 151st, by a score of 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
A seeded woman exited the tournament when Ann Li, a 20-year-old American, defeated No. 31 Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-0 in just 47 minutes to improve to 5-0 this season. Li is ranked 69th and competing in only her third career Grand Slam tournament.
She is coming off an unusual accomplishment at a tune-up tournament at Melbourne Park last week: Li shared the title of the Grampians Trophy with Anett Kontaveit because organizers decided
not to hold a final so as not to wear out the players right before the Australian Open.
That warmup event was created for players such as Li who had to go into a hard lockdown after potentially being exposed to COVID-19.
For Kenin, her issues in the early going resulted in an early break that led to her falling behind 3-1. Even after she got that back, how close was the opening set? They players split the first 52 total points, each grabbing 26. They split the first 10 total winners, each producing five. But Kenin came through at crunch time.