The Golden State Warriors defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 128-121 on Saturday at the Crypto.com Arena in an incredible game that was tainted by a contentious call involving LeBron James’ three-pointer that tied the score at 121. There were barely two minutes remaining.
Just under two minutes remained, and the Lakers were only four points behind the Warriors, marking a dramatic reversal in their rivalry toward the most recent chapter of fierce rivalry.
However, James’ three-pointer was determined to have gone out of bounds, increasing the Lakers’ lead and cutting the remaining time down to just 1:50.
Subsequently, there was an issue with the shot clock. Following multiple attempts to restart the match and fix the clock, the officials finally decided that the arena announcer would provide the remaining time in real time at five-second intervals.
James afterwards said, “I’ve never seen it played out like that before,” according to ESPN. It was a peculiar kind of circumstance. It somewhat decelerated our speed.”
With nine assists, eight rebounds, and 40 points in the game, he matched his season best while trying to carry his team in the absence of Anthony Davis, who left the game in the first quarter due to injury.
After missing three games due to an injured right knee, Steph Curry, James’ longstanding nemesis, returned to the court and scored 31 points for the Warriors. Klay Thompson scored 26 points off the bench.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters afterward, “It was wild.” “It seems like these circumstances arise periodically all year round. That’s the most extreme situation I’ve ever encountered—the backup unit isn’t even functional. Feel sorry for the supporters; it’s a sad situation.”
“It was a great game and all of a sudden, in the last two minutes, everyone was just watching each other, trying to figure out what to do,” said Kerr.
It was still a great game, even with Davis’s defensive skills gone. The Warriors were able to assault in the paint, which led to more points in that part of the floor.
But after James’ three-point shot was contested, the “flow” of the game was interrupted, and Kerr subsequently said they would “prefer to see it ended properly.”
“We’re working to do anything we can in order to get information in an appropriate way,” Kerr stated. Does it really matter if the man’s foot is half an inch off? Is it really worth going back 45 seconds and making all the changes?
“It’s unfortunate what happened,” James said in defense of the call, adding that referees “have something to do, and they’ve got to perform it as well as they can.”
