The Los Angeles Lakers matched up against the Denver Nuggets Sunday night, and the game took a turn for the worse on the Nuggets' part before halftime.
Nikola Jokic stumbled to the floor after scrambling for a rebound directly in front of a referee. No call was made and Kyle Kuzma grabbed the miss, working the ball back to the other end of the floor which sent coach Mike Malone into a rage. Malone ran onto the floor to block the path and confront referee Rodney Mott before his assistants could react, while Jokic hopped off the floor to join him.
While simultaneously yelling at Mott, the whistle sounded sending both coach and player in the locker room in a double ejection less than a minute after the no-call.
Moments into the second quarter, Mott also called a technical foul on guard Jamal Murray, which was a warning for the players to cool down on complaining about foul calls.
The Lakers took advantage of the frazzled Nuggets and jumped to a 59-36 lead on the Nuggets in the second quarter. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded the Nuggets were down 70-48, returning without their head coach, and the task of trying to come back from a 22 point deficit.
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