"We believe": Down 3-1 again, the Nuggets' spirit is still alive

As soon as Jamal Murray hit the floor, his arms shot up in frustration.

At the end of a night where the Nuggets were frustrated by their own inability to control the defensive glass but also the officiating, a cruel no-call on a late-fourth quarter Murray drive to the rim felt like the ultimate dagger.

Murray was clearly fouled by James with the Nuggets trailing 105-102 with less than three minutes remaining in Game 4. James’ right hand made contact with Murray’s right wrist just as Denver’s point guard released the ball. It was a brutal no-call in the moment and will surely be included in the highlight reel of the most egregious foul calls that didn’t go Denver’s way in Game 4 that by the time you’re reading this has probably already been sent by the Nuggets to the league office.

“I mean, I did get fouled on a few,” said Murray postgame while recalling a similar no-call on a drive against Rudy Gobert from late in Game 4 in the Nuggets’ first-round series against the Jazz. “We could see the replay clearly.”

The officiating in Game 4 isn’t the reason why Denver’s facing a 3-1 series deficit for the third time in these playoffs, but it certainly didn’t help the Nuggets’ cause Thursday night. The no-call on James wasn’t the only unfortunate fourth-quarter decision by the officials that went against Denver either.

Paul Millsap didn’t touch Davis on this shot attempt earlier in the quarter but was still called for a foul. The whistle came not just after Davis’ shot missed, but once official Rodney Mott watched Davis fall to the ground after twisting his ankle.

Michael Malone said postgame that he thought about challenging the foul on Millsap while it was being reviewed for a flagrant but didn’t before the window for Denver to appeal the call expired.

“I asked why it was called a foul, and obviously the referees had an answer for that that I didn’t necessarily agree with,” Malone said. “But it is what it is.”

The whistles sting in the moment, especially with how the 24 hours prior to Game 4 had played out. On Wednesday evening, reports that the Lakers presented a case to the league that James wasn’t getting enough free-throws became public. On Thursday night, James and Anthony Davis combined to make more free-throws (24) than the Nuggets attempted (23).

“I think I’m going to have to go through the proper channels like they did to figure out how we can get some more free-throws,” Malone said.

The Nuggets can’t control the officiating, but one thing they can control is the Lakers’ offensive rebounding. That’s what should tick the Nuggets off the most after a 114-108 Game 4 loss, not the three referees who called the game. For the record, both the Lakers and Nuggets have attempted 113 free-throws through four games this series.

The Lakers out-rebounded the Nuggets 41-33 in Game 4. The Lakers also grabbed 12 offensive rebounds leading to 25 second-chance points after Denver kept Los Angeles to just four offensive rebounds in its Game 3 win.

Dwight Howard had four offensive rebounds which he turned into eight points in the first quarter alone, and all five of Howard’s Game 4 field goals were second-chance points. Howard’s fifth and final basket of the game will probably get sent to the league by the Nuggets as well. It came on a tip-slam after he sent Jerami Grant flying with a two-handed shove.

The Lakers sealed their Game 4 win on the offensive glass. The Nuggets gave up three offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, all of which came in the final 2:10 of the game. All three were absolute backbreakers too.

Shortly after this offensive rebound by Davis, Grant fouled James who hit both free-throws.

Following this tap-out by the Lakers, James drew a blocking foul on Grant right in front of the Nuggets’ bench. He again sunk both free-throws.

After Rajon Rondo secured this offensive rebound, he was fouled by Torrey Craig. Rondo split the free-throws.

“That was the difference,” Murray said of the Lakers’ offensive rebounding.

Those three offensive rebounds led to the only five points that the Lakers scored from the 2:30 mark of the fourth until Davis’ two free-throws with 21 seconds left which iced Game 4.

“We’re just trying to be physical. We’re trying to be physical and not pick up fouls,” said Murray. “Joker’s trying to play physical. Dwight Howard, he’s absolutely just trying to muscle his way in and not caring about if he gets called for a foul because they have how many bigs over there. So Joker’s trying to do his part without fouling and the guards have to rebound more. I only had three rebounds today so I got to get in there and be more physical and even take a couple. I don’t think I had any fouls so I just gotta hit somebody and try to help my teammates out.”

Nikola Jokic suggested postgame that Denver needs to collectively hit the glass harder.

“We need to box out, of course,” Jokic said. “I think we just need to focus on who’s going to go and who needs to box out. But at the end of the day it needs to be effort. All five guys need to rebound. It’s a team effort.”

Speaking of Jokic, he came up short against Howard, Davis and the Lakers’ front line Thursday. While Murray was again spectacular, finishing with 32 points and eight assists while adding to his constantly-growing bubble highlight reel, Jokic was quiet.

Jokic tallied 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists but had to sit because of foul trouble from the 8:06 mark of the fourth until there was 5:46 left in the period after picking up his fifth foul. Somehow, the Nuggets were able to outscore the Lakers 8-4 in the two-and-a-half minutes that Jokic had to throw his warmup back on for.

There are adjustments on the table for Denver. You wonder how much longer Malone will ride with Craig, who was a team-worst -17 in his 20 minutes in Game 4. Craig also has the Nuggets’ worst Defensive Rating (133.6) in the series.

Michael Porter Jr., on the other hand, provided a ray of hope in Game 4 with 13 points and eight rebounds off Denver’s bench. He had six of the Nuggets’ last eight points in the third as Denver trimmed the Lakers’ lead from nine points to three over the last 1:22 of the quarter.

The Nuggets just might have to play Porter more and live with his defense and occasional turnovers in Game 5 based on how well he’s scored this series. Porter’s averaging 13 points per game against the Lakers and is shooting 39% from three, the third-highest percentage on the team behind Monte Morris and Jokic. He went 3-6 from three-point range Thursday.

Based on one particular postgame comment from Malone, there could be some changes to rotation in Game 5.

If the Lakers think they’ve crushed the Nuggets’ spirit, they haven’t. The Nuggets obviously got down 3-1 against the Jazz and Clippers before battling back. With how neck and neck this series has been, you can’t count these Nuggets out until Denver’s boarding its flight out of the Disney World bubble.

“We believe,” said Morris, who’s 12-point, four-assist Game 4 effort added to what’s been a strong playoff run for Denver’s backup point guard. “We’ve been here before. Ain’t no pressure on us. The pressure’s on the Lakers to get the job done right now.”

“Today might have been one of our worst performances, and we know that. And we still had a chance to win it.”