For the Los Angeles Lakers, the Denver Nuggets are that schoolyard bully who keeps beating them up and stealing their lunch money every day.
They just lost to the Nuggets for the 10th time in a row on Monday in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series, 101-99. Of those 10 losses in a row, this one was the worst. They held a 20-point lead in the third quarter, only to give up that lead in big gulps, and their fan base could see a loss coming with plenty of time left.
While Los Angeles did it to itself, LeBron James, who had a solid game overall, felt something was wrong with the officiating and that the officiating was a factor in his team’s loss. After the game, he took a shot at the refs and the replay center the NBA utilizes in New Jersey.
“I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest. … D’Lo (D’Angelo Russell) clearly gets hit in the face on a drive. What the [expletive] do we have a replay center? It doesn’t make sense to me. It bothers me.”
The play he was referring to took place late in the third quarter. Russell missed a layup, and after Michael Porter Jr. was called for a foul, Denver challenged the call, and the call was overturned.
Michael Porter Jr. hit D'Angelo Russell in the face. MPJ was called for a foul which was then challenged.
Nuggets won the challenge.
Thought? 🤔pic.twitter.com/X01ufZXX4g
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 23, 2024
Russell even took to social media to give his opinion.
That’s a foul we all saw it on national television.
— D'Angelo Russell (@Dloading) April 23, 2024
Despite a couple of possibly bad or questionable calls or non-calls, the Lakers only have themselves to blame for being down 0-2 to the Nuggets. At this point, this series has taken on the feel of a slow-motion train wreck for them.
