Nuggets coach Michael Malone already knows he doesn’t want to fall into the Popovich trap, one that sees him trying to anticipate and counter moves against the Spurs coach, who has the third-most playoff victories in NBA history.
“And the chess match, listen, he’s Bobby Fischer,” Malone said. “He’s a savant. I’m not worried about matching wits with Gregg Popovich.”
Heading into Tuesday night’s Game 5 with the series knotted at 2-2, Malone has already made several huge adjustments. He made the difficult decision to pull Will Barton from the starting lineup and replace him with Torrey Craig.