LeBron James was flushed after the Los Angeles Lakers let a fantastic chance pass them by.
His anger wasn’t primarily focused on losing a 20-point advantage. or his late, game-tying 3-point attempt that rimmed out. In Game 2 of their first-round series on Monday night, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Lakers 101-99 thanks to a fadeaway buzzer-beater by Jamal Murray.
James’s target of ire was a location further away in Secaucus, New Jersey: the NBA’s replay center. Michael Porter Jr.’s second-half foul, which was reversed because the league claimed MPJ made very little contact on D’Angelo Russell, was the main cause of his ire.
James, whose team is behind 2-0 going into Game 3 on Thursday night in Los Angeles, added, “I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest.” Clearly, D-Lo is struck in the face while driving. It’s absurd that we have a replay center. What the (expletive) do we have? It’s illogical. It annoys me.
In his postgame interview, James didn’t seem to be the same guy he typically is after the Lakers watched Murray and the Nuggets rally from a 68-48 deficit to win the game for the tenth time consecutive.
With about 16 seconds remaining, James had a wide-open 3-point opportunity to put the Lakers ahead.
When time ran out, Murray’s game-winning shot over Anthony Davis was made possible by Porter’s rebound grab.
Following the game, James was sharp and direct.
“We missed shots,” Denver said in reference to their comeback, which featured a fourth-quarter outshoot of 32–20. Although we missed them, we still received wonderful glances. They succeeded too.
Russell was 1 for 9 from deep in the series opener, but he nailed seven threes. “We never lost confidence in him,” the team said. “D-Lo is D-Lo.”
“Every game is its own challenge,” the Lakers said when asked whether they can learn anything from this one heading into Game 3 in Los Angeles.
Regarding the difficulties of a devastating defeat: “Obviously, it’s a sad game, and you don’t want to lose that way.”
James started to express his annoyance with the replay center at that point. The Nuggets successfully challenged to have Murray’s foul call waived off after James drove to the hoop earlier in the game.
James mentioned Monday’s previous game, in which the New York Knicks overcame the Philadelphia 76ers 104-101 in a wild last 30 seconds, in his tirade from the replay center.
After Tyrese Maxey’s ball was stolen, the Knicks had possession until Donte DiVincenzo made the game-winning 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining. According to Joel Embiid, Maxey was fouled, and before the Knicks received the ball, coach Nick Nurse and a few players tried to call a timeout.
