LeFumble! Lakers’ James wide dribbled and missed a crucial layup in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles held an 11-point lead over Denver in a game-two disaster rout.
- James finished the match with nearly a hat-trick despite his poor shooting late on
- Jamal Murray dominated the fourth quarter, scoring 23 out of 37 points
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In a scene totally unfamiliar to Lakers and LeBron James fans, a four-time MVP fouled a wide open dunk in Denver Thursday night as Los Angeles blew a winable Western Conference Finals game against the top-seeded Nuggets.
The viral moment occurred midway through the second quarter of a 108-103 Game 2 loss when James got an open fast break and appeared to attempt a signature reverse mill dunk. Instead, he threw the ball into the stands after losing his grip.
After the game, James said the play was “an unforced era on my own” and “horrible”. Shortly after the blunder, “Father Time” began popping up where users joked that James’ age of 38 was included in the blunder.
Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell was one of those who weighed in, saying “I’ve never seen that before” with a laughing emoji.
James finished the game with 22 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds, and nearly hit a hat-trick in defeat.
Lakers SF LeBron James surprisingly fumbled when he was wide open on a fast break
James also shot poorly from deep and made minimal impact in the fourth quarter of play
Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell was one of many on social media who reacted to the bug
But his shooting numbers and performance in the final quarter left plenty of room for improvement. Most disturbing was the sudden layup, which resulted in a volley for the four-time NBA champion.
James shot 9-19 from the field and went remarkably 0-6 from outside the arc. Interestingly enough, James has missed 19 consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth and final quarters of games since the first round start this year.
This marks the longest streak of any player in the last 25 seasons.
He also had several key turnovers as the Lakers tried to claw their way back into the lead during the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was instead owned by Nuggets and point guard Jamal Murray who once again made a strong case for getting rid of the ‘Murray bubble’ nickname that has followed him since his hot tear in the 2020 NBA playoffs.
Murray finished the night with 37 points and set the personal highlight of the fourth quarter after scoring 23 points in the most important quarter of the game.
