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The seventh-placed side in the Western Conference standings, Los Angeles Lakers, lost their second 2024 NBA Playoffs game against the defending champions, Denver Nuggets, 99-101 on Sunday night at the Ball Arena and the second-placed West side took a 2-0 lead in the first round. In a post-game interview, LeBron James blamed the replay center for the Lakers' loss and also called out the officiating in the Sixers-Knicks game.
In the final minute of the game when both sides were leveled 99-99, Lakers star forward LeBron James missed a 24' 3-point shot for the lead, and Nuggets' Michael Porter Jr grabbed the rebound. With 15 seconds remaining, Nuggets star guard Jamal Murray, who scored the last six points for his side, scored a fallaway buzzer-beater to seal the victory.
In a post-game interview, LeBron was asked to reflect on the loss, and a frustrated 'King James' lashed out at the officials for not calling potential fouls on his teammate D'Angelo Russell. LeBron said, "I don't understand what's going on in the replay center, to be honest. D-Lo 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)? It doesn't make sense to me."
Here is the video of D-Lo getting hit in the face:
LeBron also talked about a similar incident that took place in the Playoff game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks. He added, "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 have now lost 10 straight games against the Nuggets in the regular season and playoffs combined. In the loss, Anthony Davis scored 32 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, while LeBron scored 26 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds, and D'Angelo Russell registered 23 points and 6 assists.
For the Nuggets, reigning NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic registered a triple-double with 27 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists followed by Michael Porter Jr., who scored 22 points and made 9 rebounds, and Jamal Murray (20 points, 5 assists).