LeBron James has blasted the officiating in Game 2 of the first-round series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, which the Lakers lost 101-99 on a Jamal Murray game-winner.
Speaking to the media after the game tonight, James was especially frustrated with the replay center appearing to get an easy call wrong.
LeBron James talks Game 2 loss to Denver, LA’s offense stagnating in the second half, NBA Replay Center pic.twitter.com/QaxbWvcUao
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) April 23, 2024
“I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest,” he said. “… 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]. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
“It bothers me. … And then I just saw what happened with the Sixers-Knicks game too. Like, what are we doing? … It’s f—ing stupid.”
That’s a foul we all saw it on national television.
— D’Angelo Russell (@Dloading) April 23, 2024
Lakers coach Darvin Ham also vented his frustration with the officiating postgame.
“Some tough calls,” he said. “Some tough non-calls. But you can’t use any of that as an excuse. You gotta go out there and be ready to make plays whether the whistle gets blown or not. It’s getting real tricky — you go through the season, games being officiated one way, and then you get to the playoffs, and I guess it’s left up to the interpretation of the three individual guys that’s doing the job out there.”
Anthony Davis, meanwhile, said some of the blame still had to be on the Lakers and their own shortcomings as they coughed up a 20-point lead.
“We have stretches where we don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the floor,” he said.
Davis put up big numbers for the Lakers, finishing with 32 points and 11 rebounds, while James had 26 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists. But it wasn’t enough to get a much-needed road win in Denver.
The Lakers and Nuggets will meet again when Game 3 tips off in Los Angeles on Thursday.
READ MORE: LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell Speak Out on
