Nuggets head coach Michael Malone continues to stress that his team needs to get off to a strong start against the Lakers and get off to a faster start to prevent a double-digit deficit seen in the first three games. I’ve done it.
On Saturday, that lesson was taken more literally.
On Saturday, before the Lakers won Game 4 of the first round of the NBA playoff series to avoid elimination, several players warmed up in flip-flops and wore no shoes at all due to a mix-up with player shoes. I had to enter the court without shoes. I put on the insoles on the early bus to the arena, a team spokesperson told ESPN.
“I think the bus with the shoes was the last one. There was some confusion,” said Michael Porter Jr., one of the players who didn’t bring their insoles and shoes to the gym in time to warm up before the game. said. “I mean, all I had was a slide. They said either you skip warm-ups or you go into the game with a slide. Maybe people will make a fuss about this.” I had some idea that he was deaf, but it was just that someone had left their shoes on the wrong bus.
“It’s frustrating. Pregame routines are very important, but everyone makes mistakes. We’re all human, so I don’t get too angry.”
Regardless of whether this incident messed up the flow or not, the Nuggets couldn’t find an answer in what could have been a close game this time, but they didn’t give in to the shoe excuse.
After the Lakers built a comfortable double-digit lead in the first half, Denver was unable to claw back and ultimately lost 119-108.
The closest the Lakers came to taking the lead was within seven points in the fourth quarter.
“Is it ideal? No,” Malone said. “But hopefully we can figure it out and prevent it from happening again.
“If you want to go deeper and say, well, we lost because our players, for some weird reason, weren’t wearing shoes when they came here for their regular warm-up, flip-flops. I mean, there were guys shooting at each other, is that ideal? No, but I’m not one to make excuses. And I’m going to point out why I got my ass kicked in the paint because my shoes weren’t here. Personally, I think that’s the goal.”
According to ESPN, the Lakers scored 72 points in the paint, the most in a playoff game in the organization’s last 25 years.
It was the second consecutive game in which he got away with 70 or more points inside, a stark contrast to his average of 46 points in the paint in the first two games of the first round of the playoff series.
“We talked about getting off to a better start,” Porter added. “It takes a lot of energy to come back from a double-digit deficit of 20, 15, whatever it is. They did a good job of keeping it together tonight. If we were within 10 or eight points, it takes a lot of energy. Every time they got close, it looked like they made a 3-pointer or made a big shot. So credit to them.”
The series returns to Denver on Monday night for Game 5 with the Nuggets leading 3-1.
