LeBron James was not happy with the officiating after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. James, who finished the game with 16 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals, was nursing an elbow injury in the locker room following the loss after banging it on the hardwood in the fourth quarter.
He picked up the injury with four minutes to go in the game. As James drove to the rim, Nikola Jokic was standing alone under the basket and gave a half-hearted attempt to challenge James. After making the layup, James fell to the ground, banging his elbow in the process. No foul was called, and James remained on the ground writhing in pain as play continued.
James was upset when asked if he was given an explanation for why a foul wasn’t called.
“It’s the same s—,” James said. “‘Marginal.’ It’s the same s—. … That’s all they keep saying is ‘marginal.’ I’m so f—ing tired of that word. It doesn’t make no sense.”
James is unsure if he’ll be ready to play for the Lakers’ second night of a back-to-back against the Indiana Pacers on Friday, as he iced the elbow to help with swelling.
“We’ll see what happens over the next couple of days,” James said. “Hopefully, I’ll wake up [Friday] and it doesn’t feel too much worse than it is now. Or if it feels better, that would be great. So it’s day-to-day. We’ll see what happens.”
Luka Dončić nearing suspension for technical fouls
James wasn’t the only Lakers star frustrated with the officiating on Thursday night. Luka Dončić was assessed his 15th technical foul of the season. If he gets one more, he’ll be suspended for one game.
Dončić was hit with the technical after he argued with an official after a no-call followed contact with Denver’s Bruce Brown. Crew chief Ed Malloy told a pool reporter that Dončić “used profanity towards an official.”
Dončić was perplexed by the call.
“Just because I yelled at him, I guess,” Dončić said when asked what explanation he was given that warranted the technical. “That’s what he said. But I heard three other players say the exact same sentence and didn’t get a tech. And that’s my problem. I was trying not to talk at all. This is the first thing I said, no warning or nothing. But I heard three other players say the exact same thing and nothing. I don’t know what to say.”
Before Thursday’s game, Lakers coach JJ Redick told reporters that the Lakers have emphasized reducing player interactions with referees. He even said Dončić is “aware that he’s close” to a mandatory suspension.
“I think he’s trying,” Redick said.
Deandre Ayton leaves game with knee injury
While James’ injury doesn’t appear to be serious, the status of center Deandre Ayton is unclear after he exited in the opening minutes Thursday due to a knee issue. Ayton sat for the rest of the game due to left knee soreness, Redick said.
For the time being, it’s unclear if Ayton will play in Friday night’s game, but going against the 15-win Pacers is a perfect get-right game for a Lakers (37-25) team that has been up-and-down recently. Handling the bottom-dwelling teams hasn’t been an issue for the Lakers. They are 20-6 against teams with records below .500, but the issue has been beating top-tier teams. The Lakers have just a 14-19 record against teams above .500. That needs to change if this team hopes to make a run in the playoffs.
Thursday night’s loss highlighted many of the Lakers’ issues when playing against winning teams. Despite shooting over 50% from the field and 41% from 3-point range, the Lakers’ defense remains the problem as the Nuggets shot 52% from the field and 45.2% from 3-point range.
Denver’s Jamal Murray killed the Lakers from deep, going 5 for 9, but it was partly due to nonchalant defense with lazy closeouts on the perimeter.
It’s been a bad stretch for the Lakers, but they’ve got 20 games to get things right before the playoffs start. L.A. sits sixth in the West, though the Phoenix Suns are just two games behind them in the standings. Avoiding the Play-In is in L.A.’s best interests. If the Lakers finish seventh, a first-round matchup against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs could be awaiting them. The Lakers are just 1-3 against the Spurs this season.
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