Defending champ Nuggets show out Nets in another West Coast rout
NY Post
DENVER — Back-to-back. At altitude. Against Nikola Jokic and the champs.
On the schedule, this always looked like a loss. On the court, it turned into a rout.
The leggy-looking Nets suffered a 124-101 beating at the hands of Denver before a sellout crowd of 19,636 at Ball Arena.
“Tired group. Yeah, tough back-to-back,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “I don’t like to use excuses, but I told our group I thought our intent was good coming into the game. We just didn’t have it, and on a team that was rested and ready for us, tough back-to-back the emotional and mental part of it. Just didn’t have it.
“I’m not going to use excuses, I’ll say that. I’ve done this plenty of time before. It is a tough trip … getting in at a time you get in, being able to play after an emotional game [Wednesday], physically and mentally — yes, it’s part of it. Part of the job, everyone does it at some point in the schedule. Just got to live with it and play through it.”
The Nets (13-11) were coming off arguably their best victory of the season, spoiling the debut of Kevin Durant’s new Big 3 with Wednesday’s win in Phoenix.
PORT ST. LUCIE — From the moment he was told he needed surgery on his left hamate bone, Francisco Lindor fixated on the recovery time. Trainers provided the Mets shortstop a six-week pathway to return to play, and Lindor was determined to hit every marker.
Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
SAN DIEGO — As you may have seen elsewhere in this newspaper (and also if you haven’t deleted me yet from your social media), I have a book coming out Tuesday called “The Bosses of The Bronx.” Much of it details the 37 years’ worth of antics, winning, losing, winning again and overall mania of George Steinbrenner’s time with the Yankees.
Don’t close the curtain on “Mean” Joe Greene.
The Knicks are on a five-game winning streak and flooded with concerns.
Dylan Garand knew the number off the top of his head. He knew that, between the regular season and playoffs, he’d logged over 160 games with AHL Hartford, and he was right. Before the Rangers recalled him Friday, Garand had served as the Wolf Pack’s goaltender 165 times.
SAN DIEGO — As you may have seen elsewhere in this newspaper (and also if you haven’t deleted me yet from your social media), I have a book coming out Tuesday called “The Bosses of The Bronx.” Much of it details the 37 years’ worth of antics, winning, losing, winning again and overall mania of George Steinbrenner’s time with the Yankees.
The Knicks are on a five-game winning streak and flooded with concerns.
Don’t close the curtain on “Mean” Joe Greene.
The hockey world is getting a new TV adaptation of another romance series that helped define the genre.
What is there about Giants edger ushers and their fixation with single-digit jersey numbers?
Cade Cunningham, almost inarguably the best player in the East this season, is likely out for the remainder of the regular season. That’s the word out of Detroit following the depressing news that Cunningham punctured a lung when he took a knee to his side Tuesday from Washington’s Tre Johnson while chasing a loose ball.
Legal problems continue to follow ex-NHLer Billy Tibbetts.