Nuggets' Michael Malone says he'll talk with NBA about free-throw imbalance

Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone wasn't happy with the officiating following his team's 114-108 Game 4 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. The disparity in free-throw attempts was large, and now Malone plans to do something about it. 

"They went to the foul line 35 times," Malone said postgame, according to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "I think I'm going to have to go through the proper channels like they did to see if we can figure out how we can get some more free throws."

Malone's comments were in response to Lakers head coach Frank Vogel, who said Wednesday that the team had talked to the NBA about LeBron James' lack of free-throw attempts in the Western Conference Finals. 

The Lakers attempted 12 more free throws than the Nuggets, including a 17-9 disparity in a critical fourth quarter. It appears L.A.'s discussion with the league worked in their benefit, too, as James took 14 shots from the line after having just 10 free throws combined through the first three games of the series. 

With a do-or-die Game 5 on Saturday, it's not surprising that Malone is visibly upset. Malone believes his squad could've tied the series on Thursday if the game was called fairly instead of going down 3-1. 

However, the Lakers' victory could be attributed to James being a leader and deciding to cover Jamal Murray in the fourth quarter. Murray has been Denver's best player throughout the postseason, and James knew the club had to neutralize him. 

With a win in Game 5, the Lakers would move on to their first NBA Finals appearance since 2010, but the Nuggets aren't going to go down without a fight.