LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers must look ahead to Game 3 as their first chance to defeat the Denver Nuggets after a Jamal Murray buzzer-beater sent L.A. home with a 2-0 series deficit.
The Murray game-winner was one of the best postseason game winners in recent memory, but for the Lakers, it was not the defining moment of a frustrating fourth and final quarter.
For the Lakers, the defining moment was a missed call that they believe changed the momentum of the game. Late in the third quarter, D’Angelo Russell had Michael Porter Jr. beat on a drive to the basket. He rose up for the layup, and Porter hit Russell in the face after missing the block attempt. A foul was called on the floor, but was overturned in a replay review.
Everyone on the Lakers side was particularly frustrated by this call, and James went straight to what he believes is a flaw with the NBA replay center to voice his complaints.
“I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest. … DLo clearly gets hit in the face on a drive. What the f— do we have a replay center for if it’s going to go [like that],” James wondered. “It doesn’t make sense to me. It makes no sense to me. It bothers me. … That s— it like … And then I just saw what happened with the Sixers-Knicks game too. Like, what are we doing? … It’s f—ing stupid.”
The Lakers do have a right to be frustrated at the blatantly missed call. Russell was absolutely fouled and there was no reason the call should have been overturned. However, the Lakers were already in the process of blowing a 20-point lead and had plenty of chances after the missed call to stop the bleeding.
This was an easily winnable game for L.A. and they let it slip through their fingers, putting them in a 2-0 hole heading back to Los Angeles. And one missed call, while definitely not a good look for the NBA officials, cannot be the sole blame for Monday’s losing effort.
D’Angelo Russell joins LeBron James in criticism
Russell himself both took to social media and spoke out after the game about what he felt was an obvious missed call. He believes it changed the momentum of the game, swaying things in the Nuggets’ direction when the Lakers were in control.
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