Ja Morant plans to appeal a fourth-quarter flopping technical foul received during Portland's 136-129 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Morant, Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara, and Lakers forward Ziaire Williams were all assessed flopping techs in the final six minutes. Trail Blazers coach Micah Nori called the three fouls unusual, noting only 27 flopping technicals were called in 2,000 games last season.
The combined teams shot 71 free throws in the choppy contest. Morant received the technical while defending Lakers guard Austin Reaves with Portland clinging to a 121-120 lead. He maintained he simply showed his hands and took a bump to the chest. "It ain't like I fell," Morant said. "I'll try to appeal it.
I think it's like a $2,000 [fine]." Damian Lillard added 21 points and hit a late 3-pointer to ice the win. Lillard criticized the officials for "forcing" the technical fouls, arguing they should only be called on "crazy flops" when games are being decided. He said the calls came at a bad time in a one-possession game.
Morant credited the team for not letting the foul "deflate us or take the life from us.".
Source: ESPN NBA · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing