The Nuggets scored an impressive win in Golden State on Monday night, beating the Warriors 114-105. The Warriors were on fire coming into this game and it was circled on the calendar as a bit of a measuring stick for both teams in a marquee spot on national TV.
They got some great performances from Russell Westbrook, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr., but a big story of this one was the absence of both Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. They were listed as questionable coming into the game and both were ultimately ruled out prior to tip-off.
Murray sprained his ankle in the previous game, a close loss to the Wizards and Jokic has been nursing ankle and elbow injuries of his own. Monday night marked the Nuggets’ fourth game in six nights and both Murray and Jokic had appeared in each one.
By the end of the loss to the Wizards on Saturday night, it was evident that the team was tired and worn down. Malone was smart to get his stars a night off as this is starting to resemble the stretch run of last season when Malone ran his starters into the ground chasing the one seed and his team broke down in the playoffs.
Tim Bontemps rips Nuggets apart for load management
On ESPN’s ‘Get Up’, the studio crew didn’t quite see things the same way. Tim Bontemps ripped apart the Nuggets for resting Jokic and Murray for an ESPN game, calling it “A horrible look for the league” and explaining that this is exactly why the league had to enforce the player participation policy.
He argued that they could have looked at the schedule and planned ahead by resting the stars in Saturday night’s home game with the Wizards. It’s ironic and convenient for Bontemps’ argument that Denver lost that game anyway and that the game he’s complaining about happened to be on ESPN (the company that employs him).
"It's a horrible look for the league."
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 18, 2025
—@TimBontemps on the Nuggets not playing Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray vs. the Warriors pic.twitter.com/WQ3ElVeQce
The fact of the matter is that the Nuggets need to prioritize winning a championship above everything else. If that means resting players on a nationally televised game and eating a fine, so be it. It’s not their responsibility to kowtow to the league because they can’t market the sport well enough.
The Nuggets shouldn’t feel an obligation to to overtax players to save the NBA from looking bad. Even though it worked out the opposite way, one could even argue that it would have been a savvy move to play the starters in the “easier” game against the Wizards while punting the tough road game in Golden State.
Targeting Jokic and Murray as examples of “load management” is absurd
Furthermore, for Bontemps to point to this particular game and these players is ridiculous and shows his pettiness over the game being on ESPN. Jokic has appeared in 62 of 69 games this season and Murray has played in 61. Both players have battled multiple injuries and powered through, playing as much as anyone could reasonably expect.
Since Nikola Jokic debuted in 2015-16, he’s played in 45 of 48 (93.8%) games on ABC/TNT/ESPN.
— Jake Coyne (@TheStatSquatch) March 18, 2025
That’s 3rd highest among the 46 All-Stars with 40+ Nat’l TV games over that span - trailing only Jayson Tatum (95.9%) and Russell Westbrook (94.3%). https://t.co/4Fb2fXa8g4
Stars are sitting out left and right and marquee teams are shutting down players to tank for better lottery odds. Meanwhile, the Nuggets are doing everything in their power to survive the season and win games with their best players.
For them to be the target of criticism over load management, of all things, is beyond preposterous. Does the league have a load management problem? Sure. Are the Nuggets the right team to make an example out of? Absolutely not.