Watch- D’Angelo Russell is hit with a Flagrant 1 after a foul on Jamal Murray
The fine line between flagrant fouls and good hard fouls has long been a point of debate among NBA fans. During the LA Lakers' Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets, this debate resurfaced following an incident involving Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell and Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray in the first quarter. Russell attempted to block Murray's shot but ended up hitting his arm, causing Murray to fall hard to the ground. The referees assessed Russell with a Flagrant 1 foul, but many fans disagreed with the call, considering it to be too lenient.
Watch the play below:
D-Lo with the hard foul on Jamal Murray in transition.
He received a Flagrant 1 on the play. https://t.co/InOAj9uPfI
Bruce Brown calls out D’Angelo Russell ahead of Game 2
D’Angelo Russell may have had some extra motivation ahead of Game 2 against Denver. This comes as Nuggets wing Bruce Brown reportedly called him out by saying that Denver hunted Russell on defense in Game 1:
“He’s not the best defender, so we wanted to make it tough on him,” Brown said, via The Athletic’s Tony Jones.
Bruce Brown said the Nuggets’ goal was to attack D’Angelo Russell defensively on every possession.
“He’s not the best defender, so we wanted to make it tough on him”
The Nuggets won Game 1 of their Western Conference finals series 132-126, so most would agree that defense was certainly an issue for the Lakers. Meanwhile, Russell finished with a game-worst plus-minus of -25. Russell also tallied just eight points and three assists on 36.4% shooting in 26 minutes.
There were speculations that the Lakers might bench Russell for Game 2. However, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the team expressed concerns about such a move potentially causing Russell to become disgruntled and leave in free agency.
“Russell — who shot just 4-for-11 and played only nine minutes in the second half after registering a plus-minus of -23 in 17 first-half minutes — would naturally be under consideration; however, multiple team sources told ESPN that there is concern the team could ‘lose’ the 27-year-old point guard if he views the adjustment as a demotion after starting every other game this postseason,” McMenamin wrote.
The Lakers instead benched point guard Dennis Schroder to start Game 2 in favor of defensive forward Jarred Vanderbilt.
Also read: "Darvin Ham would rather be up 1-0 than 1-0 down"- Denver Nuggets coach frustrated with narrative around series against LA Lakers