Michael Malone rebukes narrative on Nuggets "getting butts kicked" after warming up without shoes

The Los Angeles Lakers avoided a sweep against the Denver Nuggets and got to live another day but Coach Michael Malone is not making any excuses. While the media is finding faults and nitpicking why the Nuggets lost Game 4, some are asking if the pre-game shootarounds in flip-flops were a factor in the loss, which the two-time NBA All-Star Coach finds not a good excuse.

While some reports online said that leaving the shoes behind was the fault of the Nuggets' utility personnel mistake, Coach Michael Malone insists to the media that this is not the reason why the Nuggets lost and at the same time an unusual situation.

"If you want to dig into stuff and say we lost because of some strange reason all our players didn't have their shoes when they got here for the warm ups, got to shootaround with flipflops-- is that ideal? No," said Michael Malone.

In the first three games, the Nuggets were trailing most of the time but managed to make a comeback to steal the game from the Lakers. Game 4 is a different story as there was no comeback by Denver in the second half.

While the pattern is evident in the first three games, what went differently is what many are asking, with some pointing at the flip-flop pre-game shootaround as a reason.

"But I'm not an excuse guy. I'm not going to point to the reason that we got our butts kicked in the paint because shoes weren't there," Malone insists.

Michael Malone glad to bring the Lakers-Nuggets series back in Colorado for Game 5

Failing to complete the sweep, Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone puts Game 4 behind him and looks forward to capitalizing on the home court advantage they have for Game 5.

Despite the pre-game boo-boos and ugly loss, this was the silver lining for Malone as they also need to recalibrate back to their basketball identity that helped them win a championship.

"The good thing about this is that we have a good chance to go home and try to get back in playing our brand of basketball and an opportunity to close it out in front of our fans," said Malone.

The Nuggets were outclassed by the Lakers allowing their opponents to shoot 52% from the field and commit 14 turnovers. Jamal Murray shot only 9-23 from the field and turned the ball over four times.

Game 5 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets will happen on April 29 inside the halls of the Ball Arena located in Denver, Colorado, starting at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time.