LeBron James is furious after the Los Angeles Lakers watched a golden opportunity slip away.
His frustration wasn’t about losing a 20-point lead. Or maybe he misses his final 3-pointer, ultimately tying the game. Or Jamal Murray’s fadeaway buzzer-beater to help the Denver Nuggets beat the Lakers 101-99 in Game 2 of their first-round series on Monday night.
After a second-half foul on Michael Porter Jr. was overturned, James instead pointed the finger at the NBA Replay Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. Porter was initially called for a foul after hitting D’Angelo Russell in the face, but the league overturned the call, saying Porter only made minor contact with Russell.
Michael Porter Jr. punched D’Angelo Russell in the face. MPJ was called for a foul and subsequently questioned.
The Nuggets won the challenge.
idea? 🤔pic.twitter.com/X01ufZXX4g
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“To be honest, I don’t understand what happened in the replay center,” James said. “D-Lo obviously got hit in the face on the break. What the fuck do we have a replay center for… This doesn’t make sense. This doesn’t hold up. It bothers me.
Russell agreed with James. “It was a foul, we all saw it on national television,” Russell write on X After the game.
Murray led the Golden Nuggets to tie the Lakers with a score of 68-48 in the third quarter and achieved ten consecutive victories.
With 16 seconds left in the game, James had a chance to hit a three-pointer to give the Lakers the lead. “We were eliminated,” lamented James, who finished with 26 points and 12 assists. Porter grabbed the rebound and fired a fadeaway jumper for Murray to win as the game ended.
When discussing the replay center, James brought up Monday’s game earlier, when the New York Knicks fought back in the final 30 seconds to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 104-101. The Knicks took the lead on Donte DiVincenzo’s 3-pointer with 13 seconds left, after they stole the ball from Tyrese Maxey started. Joel Embiid said Maxey was fouled, and coach Nick Nurse and some players tried to call a timeout before the Knicks got the ball.
“What are we doing?” James said at the end of the postgame interview.
