After Denver lost 3 games on the trot to the Timberwolves, Bulls, and the Knicks, envisioning them to embark on a 9-game winning streak leading up to the Lakers game seemed next to impossible. Sitting 3rd in the West, Michael Malone’s gang was going through the rest of the NBA like a hot knife through butter, until the Showtime Lakers pulled up to the scene. The loss to JJ Redick and Co. was enough for the Nuggets HC to praise the Lakers’ philosophy.

“39 points that they scored, we only scored 11- and that’s a huge disparity there and I think that speaks to a bigger problem. I felt that they were a lot more physical, a lot more aggressive than we were. They had 15 steals, they had 33 points in transition- we only had 9. So from beginning to end, their activity- their physicality never allowed us to get into rhythm all night long,” he said in the post-game conference.

That physical dominance is JJ’s philosophy. “There’s only actually one cheat code in the NBA, and that’s playing hard. If you play hard every night, you have a chance to win. If you don’t play hard every night, you’re probably going to lose,” says Redick on the mentality of the showtime Lakers.

Looking to make it 10/10 wins, Denver came into the game with high hopes. They’re eyeing for a 7th consecutive playoff appearance, extending their personal best in that statistic. Much of them are down to Nikola Jokic making the league look like a cakewalk throughout the time averaging a triple-double a game. But he couldn’t do anything against the new-look Lakers, as his fellow European Luka Doncic stole the spotlight and graced the Ball Arena with a 32-point 10-rebound double-double to best the Mile High reps 123-100.

The Lakers’ dominance was led by 40-year-old LeBron James, who continues to be the standard-bearer for Redick’s aggressive philosophy. The rest of the team followed suit, overwhelming Denver with relentless effort on both ends. Malone’s words weren’t just post-game venting—they were an admission that the Lakers’ approach worked.

“Maybe we tricked ourselves,”: Nikola Jokic on recent fortunes

As mentioned earlier, the Nuggets were on a 9-game winning streak. Prior to the Lakers showdown, they seemed all set to target their current franchise record of 19 unbeaten in the league- or so they thought. ‘The Joker’ was honest and upfront about their current good fortunes, hoping for a reflection rather than a celebration.

After being bombarded by reporters in the locker room post the Lakers loss, the Serbian superstar talked about this mentality change that was caused due to the loss. He mentioned the need to worry and think about the foreseeable future in an attempt to bounce back after a 23-point loss. “I told we had the 9-game winning streak against teams not really high on the standings, maybe we tricked ourselves to think we’re playing good,” said Jokic.

Those 9 games have come against teams having a record below .500. No disrespect to the other teams, but a loss to either of them would’ve been seen as a failure in the Nuggets’ eyes. In context, 8/9 upcoming games are with teams with .500+ pct this season (against whom they are <.500), which includes top-of-the-West Thunders, and current champions Celtics. 6/9 of those games are away from the Ball Arena, calling for a much-needed mentality shift moving forward.

Michael Malone and Nikola Jokic’s stance is clear—JJ Redick and the Lakers proved their philosophy and game plan to be much better when the pair faced off recently. They agree on the need to implement a similar mindset and aggression in their game in their upcoming games, which starts with a trip to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse to face the Pacers on February 24th.