Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
NBA Twitter was horrified the Denver Nuggets drew up a last-second play for Troy Daniels.
After being thoroughly beaten by the Miami Heat in their first seeding game, the Denver Nuggets really needed a victory in Monday’s followup game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. With the game on the line, the score knotted at 109 and 2.9 seconds left on the clock, the Nuggets drew up their game-winning play.
Hardly anyone was expecting that play to revolve around Troy Daniels taking a potential game-winning floater.
That’s right folks; with Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. Paul Millsap and Monte Morris all on the floor, the Nuggets’ last-second attempt found itself in Daniels’ hands, which resulted in a miss and overtime.
No offense to Troy Daniels, but Twitter roasted the Nuggets for that decision
Going with a diversion is one thing, but Jokic is the team’s superstar and wound up finishing his night with a 30-point triple-double. Porter, meanwhile, was having a career night with 35 points at that juncture, so it was baffling that Daniels — who finished with three points on 1-of-5 shooting — wound up getting the look.
If Denver had needed a 3-pointer, setting something up for a sharpshooter like Daniels (a career 39.6 percent shooter from distance on 4.1 attempts per game) would’ve made more sense.
But with the game tied and more than enough time to attack the basket? Any set resulting in a Troy Daniels floater was bound to be burned to a crisp on NBA Twitter.
It was only natural to wonder why MPJ hadn’t gotten a look.
You know you’ve messed up when Stephen A. Smith videos get brought into it.
Imagining Daniels’ reaction in the huddle made for a priceless reaction:
Throwing it back to the best Nuggets picture of the entire Orlando bubble never hurts either:
Luckily, the Nuggets were able to outscore the Thunder 12-4 in the extra period to pick up a much-needed win, but word to head coach Michael Malone: Maybe don’t try and get so cute with the last-second play call next time.