There was nobody rising to meet the Jazz’s Isaiah Collier in the lane, and nobody rising to contest his kickout to a wide-open Brice Sensabaugh in the corner, and Nuggets head coach Michael Malone had seen enough.
A whistle blew for a timeout, a few minutes into the second quarter Friday night at Ball Arena, after a Sensabaugh triple cut Denver’s lead to four over a Utah team of spare NBA parts and jittery rookies. Malone looked upwards, shaking his head. No answers lay in the rafters.
Spring has become a slog down at Ball. Injuries have thrown Malone’s lineups into a carousel.