Lakers cannot afford to flop around in Denver

LOS ANGELES • The Los Angeles Lakers are second in the Western Conference and have won seven games in a row, but things have not been easy lately for the defending National Basketball Association (NBA) champions.

In the past week, it took double overtime before they were able to put away the Detroit Pistons, while they needed overtime in two back-to-back games to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Both teams are second last in the East and West standings respectively. They also fell behind by 20 points to the Memphis Grizzlies, another team outside play-off contention, before rallying to win on Friday.

The Lakers know they cannot afford to be sloppy again when they play the Nuggets in Denver this morning (Singapore time).

They trailed 22-2 against the Grizzlies after a similarly slow start against the Thunder, who led by 20 points in the first half.

"We should never be down 20 points at any point in time with the personnel that we have on our team," forward Kyle Kuzma said. "But we've been through the fire."

This is the second meeting between the teams who met in last season's Western Finals, and is a chance for the hosts, seventh in their conference, to finish off a four-game homestand with three wins.

Anthony Davis returned from a two-game absence due to a sore Achilles heel to score 35 points against the Grizzlies, and the All-Star forward is expected to be in their starting line-up again.

Facing a Denver team who still have championship aspirations despite their mixed form could be the spark the Lakers need for better starts, but coach Frank Vogel is not concerned about his players stepping up when it truly counts.

"We don't want to lose any of these games," he said. "The big picture is to build habits that are going to win for us in the play-offs."

Meanwhile, the NBA, aiming to stop players from flopping to draw foul calls, has publicly called out one of its biggest stars in the Lakers' LeBron James.

The league issued warnings on Saturday to the reigning Finals Most Valuable Player as well as Kuzma regarding their flops against the Grizzlies.

James was battling for a second-quarter rebound with Memphis duo Grayson Allen and Dillon Brooks when he fell to the floor despite minimal contact, while Kuzma went down in the fourth quarter in an attempt to get an offensive foul against Brooks.

The NBA first warns players regarding flopping and if a player continues to flop, the league can issue fines starting from US$30,000 (S$39,700) or more for repeat offenders.

According to ESPN, only five players had been warned about flopping this season before James and Kuzma joined that list.

REUTERS