Michael Malone: Nuggets Not Having Shoes for G4 Warmups Not Reason for Loss to Lakers

Michael Malone was not ready to blame the Denver Nuggets shoe mishap for his team's Game 4 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Is it ideal? No," Malone told reporters after the 119-108 loss. "But hopefully we can figure that out and make sure it never happens again.

"If you want to dig into stuff and say, well, we lost because for some strange reason our players didn't have their shoes when they got here for their normal warmups, that we had guys out there shooting around with flip-flops, is it ideal? No. But I'm not an excuse guy. And I'm not going to point to the reason we got our butts kicked in the paint because shoes weren't here. I think that's a reach, personally."

Several players were forced to warm up without their shoes because of an equipment mishap. The team was able to get the situation fixed well in advance of Saturday's game but still had players not in their normal routine.

The Nuggets have spent most of this first-round series playing a dangerous game, trailing by double digits early on before mounting comebacks. The Lakers have actually spent a significant portion of the series in the lead, which is not reflected in the 3-1 deficit they face heading into Game 5.

As far as the Nuggets go, they'll be back home for Game 5 and should be able to follow standard protocols to have their players in the right shoes. With players back in rhythm, the defending champs should be able to right the ship and close this series out sooner rather than later.