The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly were irritated that the Golden State Warriors submitted several different plays for review following the Lakers’ Game 1 victory in the Western Conference semifinals.
“As a Lakers source with knowledge of the situation explains it, they were irritated by the Warriors’ decision after Game 1 to submit several plays for review by the NBA,” The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote. “While this is normal fare for this time of year, the league’s choice to be fully transparent when it comes to communication about postseason calls being questioned means each team can, in essence, see how much the other side is complaining.”
Flopping has been a major point of discussion in the Lakers’ series against Golden State, especially after Warriors head coach Steve Kerr accused Los Angeles of flopping following Game 4.
The Lakers won Game 4 in Los Angeles, giving them a 3-1 series lead, and the Warriors didn’t seem too happy about it. Following Kerr’s comments, Lakers guard Dennis Schroder responded to the notion that Los Angeles is exaggerating to draw foul calls.
Then, during Game 5 on Wednesday night, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham had a succinct response to put to bed any questions about the team attempting to flop.
The whole scenario has cast a bit of a dark cloud over the series, but the Lakers still have a 3-2 series lead heading into Friday’s Game 6 in Los Angeles.
It makes sense that the Warriors would want to see plays reviewed, but it also is an interesting move to do it after just one game in the series. Golden State lost Game 1 at home, and it hasn’t been able to take the lead in the series since.
Golden State, the defending champion, needs to win three straight games to knock the Lakers out of the layoffs. The Warriors have already won three games in a row once this postseason, taking Games 3, 4 and 5 against the Sacramento Kings in the first round.
For the Lakers, Game 6 is critical, as it is the team’s last chance to close out the series at home. Los Angeles is a perfect 6-0 (counting the play-in tournament win over Minnesota) at Crypto.com Arena this postseason.
It’s possible that the Lakers could use the recent questions about them flopping as a way to motivate them ahead of Game 6 on Friday night.
