Nuggets coach Michael Malone marched out on the court, stood at the free throw line, looked at the rim, then just shook his head in frustration.
For the second consecutive game, a rim at Denver’s Ball Arena was askew during the game, forcing the referees to stop play and for crews on ladders to rush out onto the court and fix the problem. Play was delayed for eight minutes near the start of the fourth quarter while crews with wrenches got the rim back to level.
Nuggets/Cavs game delayed due to uneven rim and the vibes are all over the place 😂 pic.twitter.com/nKXHFl0UaO
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 7, 2023
“Not again” is how Nikola Jokic described his thoughts when it happened.
Fans booed at first, then the vibes in the arena shifted and players started having some fun with it.
Jokic running laps during the game delay 😭 pic.twitter.com/CeC0ddNsFL
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 7, 2023
Play was delayed in the previous Nuggets game after the Celtics’ Robert Williams III dunked and hung on the rim, causing it to become off-center. Play was delayed for more than 30 minutes while crews struggled to fix the problem, then after the game a frustrated Jaylen Brown said they were lucky nobody got injured because of the break.
Friday night there was no single, clear incident that led to the rim not being level.
The Nuggets’ next home game is Monday when they host the Los Angeles Lakers.
Denver got back on the court Friday night and beat the Cavaliers 121-108 behind a 28-15-10 triple-double from Nikola Jokic.