LeBron James flicked the ball away from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, saw the ball fly out of bounds, and realized the moment the referee saw the signal that the Nuggets would have possession.
The Lakers’ star was fired on Saturday by head coach Dervin Ham with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles led by 15 points and needed to win Game 4 to stay alive in the first round of the NBA playoff series. wanted to challenge Cole.
But when Ham chose not to contest, James continued pointing, screaming and pleading for nearly 15 seconds — trying a little bit of everything to convince the coach to force a review. .
At that point, play resumed, and with James still yelling and staring at the bench, Jamal Murray made a layup.
“He compounded the problem by not paying attention, and then Denver got an easy basket,” ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Dave Pash said.
The Lakers still won 119-108 to seal their first series win and send it back to Denver, with Ham ultimately taking advantage of a coach’s challenge with 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter and winning.
Neither James nor Hamm were asked about the exchange during the postgame press conference.
James led Los Angeles with 30 points and Anthony Davis added 25 points and 23 rebounds, giving the Lakers their first win over Denver since Dec. 16, 2022 and ending an 11-game losing streak that included a sweep of the Nuggets. Last year’s Western Conference finals.
“Our only chance is to play in the next game. We’ve given ourselves a new lease of life,” James told reporters after the game. “We gave ourselves another lifeline. It’s a one-game series for us. So Monday’s game… is the most important game of the season for us and we understand that. There is.”
Instead, it remains in the fourth quarter. USA Today Sports
This time, the Lakers won behind Nikola Jokic’s 33 points and Michael Porter Jr.’s 27 points, building a 13-point lead by halftime and holding onto it for some time (despite the Nuggets’ attempts to come back). However, to some extent). The last 24 minutes.
Los Angeles, which secured the seventh seed in the conference with a win over the Pelicans in the play-in tournament, needs one more win at Denver on Monday night to extend the series to Game 6.
