The Los Angeles Lakers vented their frustration with the officials after the Denver Nuggets walked away with a 101-99 win on Jamal Murray’s epic buzzer-beater.
In particular, LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell were frustrated with Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. not being called for a foul in the final minute of the third quarter. As the Lakers clung to their last vestiges of momentum, Russell was smacked in the face by Michael Porter Jr. on a drive to the basket. Upon review, the contact was deemed “marginal”, and the foul was overturned.
Now Porter Jr. is making a sly admission about the play while appearing on the Full Send podcast:
Said the Nuggets forward about the play, “I definitely hit D-Lo a little bit… it may have been a foul but it was barely any contact.”
The Lakers certainly disagree with that assessment.
“I like where we were at. I like the chance we gave ourselves,” said Russell (23 points), who accepted AD’s challenge and splashed seven triples. “A few questionable calls that really dictated a lot of things.”
“That’s a foul we all saw it on national television,” Russell later posted on X.
“Of course, it’s a heartbreaking game. You never want to lose in that fashion,” said a visibly irked LeBron, before a long pause. “I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest … DLo clearly gets hit in the face on the drive. What the f-ck do we have a replay center for? … It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Nuggets steal Game 2 with Murray’s game-winner
Game 2 of the series was loaded with drama. For a a huge chunk of the game, it looked as if the Lakers had finally found a successful counter to the Nuggets’ potent offense being run through Nikola Jokic. At one point the Lakers even led by 20 points. The Nuggets were shooting horribly from three-point range, while the Lakers had corrected their issues from beyond the arc in Game 1.
Until Jamal Murray stepped up yet again in a big moment.
Murray was one of the Nuggets’ players who was shooting abysmally through the first half. But late in the third quarter, the star guard seemed to find his rhythm, and baskets were starting to fall. Slowly the Nuggets began to chip away at the Lakers’ lead.
After LeBron James’ missed layup, the game sat tied with 16 seconds remaining. Porter Jr secured the rebound and the Nuggets chose to not take a timeout. Murray dribbled around with the clock winding down and Anthony Davis closely guarding him. Murray would dribble the ball to the right corner and hit a fadeaway, falling-down jumper as time expired to give the Nuggets the improbable win.
Game 3 between the Nuggets and Lakers is Saturday in Los Angeles.
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