DENVER — For the second time this week, a Denver Nuggets game was delayed because of a crooked rim.
Officials stopped play with 11:22 left in the fourth quarter Friday night with the Nuggets leading Cleveland 96-82 when Cavaliers players noticed the same rim that caused a 35-minute delay on Sunday night was bent again.
Just like Sunday, a crew with two orange ladders hustled onto the floor with a wrench and level as the crowd booed loudly. Nuggets coach Michael Malone stormed on the floor, stopped at the foul line, saw the rim was bent, shook his head and went back to the bench.
“Don’t get me started,” Malone said after the game. “It’s not good for my blood pressure.”
“Not again,” Nikola Jokic said when asked what he was thinking.
Workers used a wrench to fix the problem much quicker than in Denver’s win over Boston on Sunday, with the delay lasting just shy of 10 minutes.
“At least they fixed it fast this time,” Bruce Brown said.
The Nuggets continued to roll after the delay and won the game 121-108 for their 10th straight home victory. Jokic logged his 10th triple double of the season and Jamal Murray scored 18 while playing his first back-to-back games since tearing his ACL in April 2021.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.