The Lakers’ bench tricked Gary Harris into taking a bad shot in Game 4, counting down from three despite the Denver guard having more time to shoot.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ bench pulled out some middle-school tactics against Denver guard Gary Harris during Game 4 of the NBA Finals, counting down from three to force an early shot despite the Nuggets having much more time to shoot.
Per Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, bench players celebrated the miss, with the Lakers able to steal a cheap possession with relative ease. However, these tactics seem somewhat disrespectful in an NBA game, especially during a hotly-contested playoff series.
While fans can question the validity of the Lakers’ tactics all they want, Harris has to know better in that scenario. He easily could have avoided taking an ill-advised shot if he had simply looked up at the shot clock, but instead, he panicked and wasted a possession in a series where there is not much margin for error on Denver’s side.
Gary Harris’s struggles come at a bad time for the Nuggets.
The mistake was just the latest in a long of them for Harris, who has struggled mightily throughout the series. The veteran guard is averaging just 4.5 points per game against the Lakers, and his slump has hurt a Denver team which could use the complementary scoring that Harris can provide.
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic have both been fantastic throughout the postseason, as Zach Lowe of ESPN elaborated on, and Jerami Grant has stepped up in recent games, but overcoming a 3-1 deficit will require contributions from the entire rotation. Denver needs to take advantage of short stretches when one or both of LeBron James and Anthony Davis are off the floor, and Harris will be crucial in that sense.
The Nuggets face elimination on Saturday night in Game 5, but this team has already proven that they play their best with their backs up against the wall. Coming back from this deficit may be their most difficult challenge yet, but if players like Harris can step up and provide some secondary scoring alongside Murray and Jokic, another comeback could be in the cards.