LeBron James, Lakers criticize officiating after Game 2 loss to Nuggets

DENVER — After their heartbreaking 101-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series on Monday night, the Lakers criticized the officiating.

Lakers star LeBron James was the most direct with his comments.

“I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest,” James said. “[D’Angelo Russell] clearly gets hit in the face on a drive. What the (expletive) do we have a replay center for if it’s going to go [like that]. It doesn’t make sense to me.”

The play James appeared to be referring to was when Michael Porter Jr. was assessed a foul for hitting Russell across the face on a drive to the basket with 40 seconds left in the third quarter.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone challenged the call and won, giving the Nuggets the ball with the Lakers leading 79-69 late in the third instead of Russell getting a pair of free throws.

Russell posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) postgame: “That’s a foul we all saw it on national television.”

The Lakers’ complaints came on the same night when a Philadelphia 76ers spokesperson told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps that the 76ers plan to file a grievance with the league over the officiating in the first two games of their first-round series after Philadelphia’s 104-101 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday night.

“It makes no sense to me,” James said. “It bothers me. … That (expletive) it like … And then I just saw what happened with the Sixers-Knicks game too. Like, what are we doing? … It’s (expletive) stupid.”

The Nuggets outscored the Lakers 32-20 in the fourth quarter to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series after Jamal Murray hit a 15-foot step-back jumper at the buzzer over Anthony Davis’ outstretched right arm.

The Lakers led 68-48 early in the third before getting stunned by the Nuggets, who outscored the visitors 53-31 over the final 22 minutes.

The Lakers, who averaged 24.2 free-throw attempts during the regular season (the second-most in the NBA), took 13 free throws on Monday, making 10, including three free-throw attempts in the fourth (1 for 3).

James appeared to be especially flustered with officials multiple times in the fourth when he felt he was fouled on drives that weren’t called, adding to the frustration of blowing a 20-point lead.

“Making it about to work and knowing that you still have [an] abundance of life,” Coach Darvin Ham responded when asked about bouncing back for Thursday’s Game 3 in Los Angeles. “Still have an abundance of life. But we gotta make it about the work and keep it about to work. It’s tough, some tough calls, 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.”

Ham continued: “It’s getting real tricky. Go through the season, games being officiated one way and then the playoffs, I guess it’s up left to the interpretation of the three individual guys that [are] doing the job out there. But all that said, you just have to know that yeah, it stings. Remember this feeling as we take it back home to L.A.”

"I don't understand what's going on in the replay center, to be honest… It makes no sense to me… Then I just saw what happened with the Sixers/Knicks game too, what are we doing?" – LeBron James pic.twitter.com/7OWLmuf8jn

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 23, 2024

D'Angelo Russell speaks about the officiating, what was working for him tonight and the mindset heading into Game 3. pic.twitter.com/jOVvEtpJZe

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 23, 2024