“Atlanta Hawks were a trap game for the Lakers”: Markieff Morris makes excuses for his team’s loss after they lost LeBron James to injury

The Atlanta Hawks have been on an 8-0 run in the month of March. Markieff Morris gave them a sort of a backhanded compliment last night.

This Hawks team was tipped by many experts to be in the thick of this year’s playoff race. However, a slump from Trae Young and a series of losses posed many questions about the team.

Much of it can be attributed to how they’ve been dealing with the losses of DeAndre Hunter and Cam Reddish. These two youngsters have been in pretty good form when available this season.

The Atlanta Hawks seem to have found the perfect mantra to deal with these injury-enforced absences now. The firing of Lloyd Pierce as head coach and Nate McMillan’s appointment as interim head coach has also served as a shot in the arm.

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The Hawks now sit at 22-20 – good for 4th spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Markieff Morris, however, blamed his own team and the NBA for the Lakers’ loss at Staples Center.

Markieff Morris accuses the NBA setting a trap game for the Lakers against Atlanta Hawks

The Lakers clearly looked a step or two off the pace from their physical best. Morris took a shot at the NBA and its scheduling practices as a response to deflect the issue:

“They set us with a trap game, whatever you want to call it. I don’t care how the NBA feel about it. It was a trap game playing 20-year-olds at 12 o’clock in the afternoon. They trapped us.”

“We just couldn’t really find it. Me, personally, I find all my shots were short. I end up making some late in the game, but throughout the game just really can’t get over the hump.”

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Morris might not have needed to make all of these excuses if LeBron James hadn’t suffered an injury. Nevertheless, it is important for the Lakers to find a way to deal with the absence of their two best defenders and scorers.