Said Nash: "That kind of stuff should happen. You should be [angry] when the other team scores. It's healthy."
The Lakers had plenty to lament.
They mainly stood around for long stretches, even though they should have been more well-rested than the Nuggets. They arrived at their team hotel Tuesday night in time to watch the second half of Denver's late Christmas game against the Clippers at Staples Center.
They were still mostly spectators a day later.
Faried was so active he looked capable of playing one-on-five against the Lakers until Howard finally found a way to slow him down with 5:02 left in the third quarter.
After Faried took a bounce pass from Ty Lawson near the free-throw line and dribbled toward the basket, Faried's face was met by the massive left arm of Howard, which shoved him to the court.
Faried remained facedown for a few moments as officials reviewed the play, upgrading the severity of the foul from a flagrant 1 - to a flagrant 2.
"It's just a foul," Howard said. "I mean, I've been fouled harder than that before and nobody's ever got kicked out of the game before and I get penalized for fouling people hard. It's basketball."
What transpired here seemed like anything but for a team that seemed lost with or without its star center.
