Apr 28, 2024, 3:49 p.m. ET
LOS ANGELES — All series long, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone has been telling his team it needed to get off to better starts. That just because the Nuggets had been able to overcome double-digit deficits in each of the first three games of their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers, didn’t mean they could always turn things around in the second half.
On Saturday, the Nuggets got off on the wrong foot again. Or rather, some players actually took the court before Denver’s 119-108 loss to Los Angeles in Game 4 of the Western Conference playoffs without any shoes due to a mix-up when placing the insoles. several players on the early bus to the arena, according to a team spokesperson.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone speaks with referee Sean Corbin (33) during the third quarter of game four of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, May 27 April 2024. USA Today Sports
“Is it ideal? No,” Malone said. “But hopefully we can figure it out and make sure it never happens again.
“If you want to dig into things and say, well, we lost because for some strange reason our players didn’t have their shoes on when they got here for their normal warmups, that we had guys playing in flip-flops, is that ideal? No. But I’m not a guy of excuses. And I’m not going to point out the reason why we got our asses kicked in the paint because the shoes weren’t here, personally.
Malone was much more concerned about the Lakers’ continued dominance in the paint, as Los Angeles scored 72 points in the paint in Game 4, the most in a playoff game in the last 25 years, according to ESPN Stats & Information . It was the second consecutive game in which the Lakers surpassed 70 points in the paint and a stark contrast to the first two games of the series, when they averaged 46 points in the paint.
The Lakers have done it in various ways, whether it’s feeding Anthony Davis inside (he’s averaging 30.5 points on 62% shooting in the series) or getting worse at driving to the basket.
According to Second Spectrum, Los Angeles has made 58 layups or dunks in the last two games, the most in a two-game span since player tracking began in 2013-14. The Lakers’ strategy has also served as a defensive challenge for Nuggets all-world center Nikola Jokic, who had to deal with foul trouble in both games in Los Angeles.
However, the biggest difference on Saturday night was that the Nuggets were unable to come back after the Lakers built a double-digit lead in the first half.
The Nuggets had crushed the Lakers’ spirit in three straight games by rallying in the second half for victories. Game 4 seemed to follow a similar script as Los Angeles built a 13-point halftime lead.
Denver got within seven points in the fourth quarter, but this time Los Angeles had an answer.
“We talked about getting off to a better start,” Denver forward Michael Porter Jr. said. “It takes a lot of energy to come back from these double-digit leads, down 20 or 15, whatever. Tonight they did a good job of holding it down.” .Every time we got within 10 or eight, it seemed like they did a good job.
Porter was one of the players whose insoles and cleats did not arrive at the arena in time for his pregame shooting time. He ruled it out as a factor in the team’s loss, but acknowledged that it was not a good way to begin preparing for a decisive match.
“I think the bus they loaded the shoes on was the last one. There was some confusion,” he said. “So all I had were flip-flops. They said we could skip our warm-up or go out in flip-flops. I knew at that point that people would probably make a big deal out of it, but it was only because someone forgot to put the shoes on the right bus.
“It’s frustrating. The pregame routine is very important, but we all make mistakes. We’re all human, so I’m not too angry.”
Porter made just four of his 10 shots in the first half, but finished 10 of 20 from the field for 27 points on Saturday.
Game 5 is Monday night in Denver.
2024-04-28 19:49:00
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