NBA Playoffs, Denver warming up in flip-flops, but it's no joke for the Lakers

Preparing for an NBA game follows a very specific ritualAnd every little snag in the routine risks driving the players who then have to take the field crazy. We can only imagine what it was like Denver Nuggets reaction When they realized this in the locker room at Crypto.com Arena Their playing shoes were not waiting for themwhich forced them to come up with an emergency solution such as Going down to the field to film and start warming up with slippers on their feet. This is not a mockery of the Los Angeles Lakers – against whom before tonight the Nuggets had won their last 11 games in a year and a half to take a 3-0 series lead – but rather Simple logistical confusion.

In the NBA, in fact, it's usually the away team He travels in two buses at different times: The first bus is the one that arrives at the square first Which is dealt with by insiders as well as younger players and assistants, The second is the one where veterans usually rise. This complication was explained by Michael Porter Jr., the most prominent player who had to take to the field in flip-flops during warm-ups: “All our shoes were on the second bus, while I arrived as usual on the first bus. “The routine before the match is essential so I was not happy with this lack, but we are all human and can make mistakes.” It did not affect the performance of the MPJ in the leastthe team's second-leading scorer with 27 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 10/20 from the field and 4/11 from three points in 40 minutes of play closed with a plus-minus of +4 (the only positive for the entire team, which lost in minutes without him by 15 minutes), But it's still a strange episode – which, we imagine, It is unlikely to happen again in the future for the Nuggets.