Portland Trail Blazers star Ja Morant stated on Tuesday that he plans to appeal a technical foul for flopping issued during a 136-129 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The matchup featured a high volume of whistles, with the two teams combining for 71 free throws in a choppy contest that stretched late into the evening. Amid the physical play in the final six minutes, the officiating crew assessed three separate technical fouls for flopping to Morant, Blazers forward Toumani Camara, and Lakers forward Ziaire Williams.
Blazers coach Micah Nori addressed the unusual frequency of the calls postgame, pointing out the stark contrast between Tuesday’s officiating and historical league numbers. According to Nori, there were only 27 flops called across the entire NBA during the previous season over a span of 2,000 games.
“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 technical foul while guarding Lakers guard Reaves with Portland holding a narrow 121-120 advantage with under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. As Reaves drove toward the paint, Morant absorbed contact to his chest and moved backward with 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 finished the night with a season-high 23 points. He noted that his defensive positioning against Reaves was a direct reaction to how officials whistled drives earlier in the game.
“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.”
Blazers guard Damian Lillard contributed 21 points, including a clutch late three-pointer that helped secure the victory. Lillard argued that the officiating crew was forcing the newly emphasized rule during critical moments of the game.
“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.”
