LOS ANGELES — Trail Blazers star Ja Morant said he plans to appeal a technical foul he received for flopping during Portland’s 136-129 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.
Morant, Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara and Lakers forward Ziaire Williams were all assessed technical fouls for flopping in the final six minutes of Portland’s narrow road victory. The Trail Blazers and Lakers combined to shoot 71 free throws in the choppy contest.
Trail Blazers coach Micah Nori noted how unusual it was to have three flopping technicals in one game when there were only “27 flops called last year in 2,000 games total.”
“Good job by the NBA,” Nori said. “Point of emphasis. Great job. There were [71] free throws. We almost got past 2 a.m. on the East Coast for the [end of the] game. Sorry to keep you all here so long.”
Morant received his flopping technical foul while defending Lakers guard Austin Reaves with Portland clinging to a 121-120 lead in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter. As Reaves drove toward the paint, Morant absorbed a bump to his chest and staggered backwards with both his arms raised.
“I just showed my hands and took a bump in my chest,” Morant said. “It ain’t like I fell. I just kept going backwards. It is what it is. I’ll try to appeal it. I think it’s like a $2,000 [fine].”
Morant, who finished with a season-high 23 points, said his defensive approach against Reaves was influenced by how the officials were calling fouls earlier in the contest.
“Most of [the Lakers’] free throws came on drives,” he said. “We tried to adjust to just show our hands and take the bump in our chest to show [the referees that the Lakers] initiated the contact. But we were still on the short end of the stick. Credit to us for not letting that [technical foul] deflate us or take the life from us. We still [went] out there to get a win.”
Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, who added 21 points and iced the victory with a late 3-pointer, said the referees were “forcing” the technical fouls for flopping.
“There’s a lot of plays in an NBA game where you see guys embellish a play,” Lillard said. “I think it should be significant, like a bad flop, for them to call it when the game is being decided. They called one on Ja at the end of a possession. If it’s not a crazy flop, you shouldn’t call that when the game is back and forth in a one-possession game. We know it’s a point of emphasis, but I was surprised they just kept calling it the way they did.”
