LeBron James lays into refs after Nuggets loss: ‘Makes no sense’

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers find themselves down 0-2 in their first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Denver Nuggets. Despite 26 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists from James and 32 points and 11 boards from Anthony Davis, it was a Jamal Murray buzzer-beater that won the Nuggets a 101-99 thriller.

JAMAL MURRAY STEPS BACK AND HITS THE #TISSOTBUZZERBEATER 🤯🤯🤯

NUGGETS COMEBACK FROM DOWN 20 TO TAKE A 2-0 SERIES LEAD!#YourTimeDefinesYourGreatness https://t.co/3dkn1H1YYR pic.twitter.com/vXXkZPEn01

— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2024

Murray’s dramatics also wasted one of the best games of D’Angelo Russell’s postseason career. The Lakers guard finished with 23 points and 6 assists on 7-of-11 shooting from three, but it was two points Russell didn’t have that bothered James and had him fuming about the officiating during his postgame press conference.

LeBron James rips referees following loss to Nuggets

During the third quarter of Game 2, Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. was called for a shooting foul on Russell, which was overturned following a challenge by Nuggets Head Coach Michael Malone. James wasn’t a fan of the call, per ESPN, which was reversed because the officials saw “marginal” contact from Porter Jr:

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.

A few minutes later, LeBron walked off the podium – but not before one brief, concluding comment.

“It’s f—ing stupid.”

The Lakers don’t have enough to beat the defending NBA champions

James and Davis were outstanding in the series’ first two games. AD had 32 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks in Game 1, a 114-103 Nuggets win. LeBron finished with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, and those performances still weren’t enough. Even Russell’s career night ultimately didn’t matter.

Oh by the way: The Nuggets have won 10 straight games against the Lakers.

It’ll be an uphill battle for LA as the series moves to Crypto.com Arena for Game 3 on Thursday night at 9 p.m. PT.

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