NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: LAKERS VS. NUGGETS

September 24, 2020

Michael Malone

Denver Nuggets

Game 4: Postgame

Los Angeles Lakers 114, Denver Nuggets 108

Q. The rebounding disparity tonight, including the Lakers’ 25 second-chance points, how much do you attribute tonight's loss to that?

MICHAEL MALONE: Almost all of it. Yeah, it was a huge number. It was like that the whole night. Obviously, Dwight Howard had six. Nobody touched him at all in that first quarter. He did whatever he wanted. 25 to six second-point advantages, that’s really hard to overcome.

We had good possessions off defense. We were just unwilling to finish it off with a rebound. We're coming off of a game in Game 3 where it was four offensive rebounds for four points. I think understanding why you win or why you lose in this business is critical. We did a poor job in that area tonight.

They were more physical, more aggressive. That's one of the main reasons that we lost, to your point.

Q. You got to within one possession multiple times in the second half. Would you say it's rebounding that was the inability to get over that hump?

MICHAEL MALONE: Part of it. Possessions where we played really good defense and just didn't finish it, which gave them extra possessions, extra life, extra opportunities. The ability to defend without fouling. They went to the foul line 35 times. I think I'm going to have to go through the proper channels like they did to see if we can figure out how we can get some more free throws.

Then there were just a lot of breakdowns. We had a stretch where LeBron misses a free throw, gets the offensive rebound, putback. Caldwell-Pope drives the baseline, gets there, dunk. Caldwell-Pope comes to the basket, we don't tag from the weak side, layup. Too many breakdowns.

This is the Western Conference Finals, Game 4. If you can't help us on the defensive end, maybe you shouldn't be on the floor. We have to be able to lock in, finish with a rebound. We had too many empty possessions tonight.

Q. The one foul call on Paul when Anthony Davis came down and hurt his ankle, did you give any thought to challenging that?

MICHAEL MALONE: Yeah, we looked at it. It's a situation where they were reviewing to see if it was a flagrant, to see if he stepped underneath him. Then obviously you only have so much time before you can challenge it. By the time we looked at it and maybe gave thought to challenging it, that time had expired.

I knew it wouldn't be a flagrant because Paul never put his foot underneath AD. Nothing malicious about it. He let him land. Anthony Davis took a step forward when the contact happened. I asked why it was called a foul. Obviously, the referees had an answer for that that I didn't necessarily agree with.

It is what it is.

Q. You mentioned them going through the proper channels. Do you think that had an effect on the game?

MICHAEL MALONE: I don't know. I just know they went 35 and we went 23. I think late in the game Jamal Murray attacked the basket a few times where it appeared to be contact. We'll watch the film and send our clips in. We'll reach out to the NBA and kind of make our points noted.

Whether them going through the proper channels affected tonight or not, I have no idea. The NBA does a great job of listening. You hope that next game maybe some of those fouls are called.

But once again, this game had nothing to do with that. It's the 25 second-chance points. That was the reason we lost this game. Most disappointing was it happened from the jump ball. I thought Dwight Howard in that first half had a tremendous impact on the game. They had six double-figure scorers tonight. You know LeBron and AD are going to get theirs. Kuzma, Howard, KCP and Rondo all have an effect on the game.

Q. Talk about Jamal Murray rising to the challenge once again and the tough education of being guarded by LeBron down the stretch.

MICHAEL MALONE: Jamal plays 45 minutes. I played him I think the last three games, including tonight, 45 tonight, 44, 43. I'm running the poor kid into the ground. When I take him out, things seem to go sideways in a hurry.

He's gotten the best of everybody. He's had last series Beverley, Kawhi, Paul George. He's getting Danny Green, Caldwell-Pope, Rondo, Caruso and now LeBron. That's the ultimate sign of respect.

Again, I thought late he had a couple really aggressive drives to the basket. I'll have to look at the film. I thought there was contact. Wasn't called. That happens.

But I think in those situations, also have to understand he's attracting so much pressure and a crowd, he has to look to make a play for somebody else and get off of it. I know he's able to do that because he's shown that he can.

Q. You mentioned how many minutes you've been playing Jamal. You've played more games than anyone else right now in the Playoffs. Does fatigue ever come into your head as a concern heading into the final stretch of the series?

MICHAEL MALONE: No, no. We have a very tough, resilient group. Jamal is one of the best conditioned athletes I've ever been around. Lives for the moment. Long timeouts in the Playoffs. Give him a break there, a break there.

But 32 points, eight assists. I would be concerned if his efficiency wasn't where it needed to be. His efficiency is off the charts. He's a tough kid. We're going to continue to ride him.