TheFumble! Lakers’ James botches a wide-opening dunk and misses a crucial fourth-quarter layup as LA blows an 11-point lead over Denver in DISASTROUS Game 2 loss
- James finished the match with a near triple-double despite his poor late shot
- Jamal Murray dominated the fourth quarter scoring 23 of 37 points
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In a scene entirely unfamiliar to Lakers and LeBron James fans, the four-time MVP missed a wide open dunk in Denver on Thursday night as Los Angeles blew out a game-winning Western Conference Finals against the Nuggets, seeded.
The viral moment came midway through the second quarter of the 108-103 Game 2 loss when James had an open fast break and appeared to attempt one of his reverse windmill dunks. Instead, he fumbled the ball into the stands after losing his grip.
After the match, James said the game was “an era unforced by myself” and “awful”. Shortly after the blunder, ‘Father Time’ started trending as users joked that James’ age of 38 had factored into the shocking blunder.
Cleveland Cavilers superstar Donovan Mitchell was one of those weighing in, saying “never seen that” with laughing emojis.
James finished the game with 22 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, nearly recording a triple-double in the loss.
Lakers SF LeBron James surprisingly dunked a dunk as he was wide open on a fast break
James also shot poorly from deep and had minimal impact in the fourth quarter
Cavs star Donovan Mitchell was one of many people on social media to react to the blooper
His shooting numbers and performance down the stretch in the fourth quarter, however, left plenty of room for improvement. Most troubling was a bloated layup, which resulted in a ball of air for the four-time NBA champion.
James shot 9-19 from the field and most notably went 0-6 from beyond the arc. Interestingly enough, James has missed 19 consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth and final quarter of games since the start of the first round this year.
This marks the longest streak of any player in the last 25 playoffs.
He also suffered several key turnovers as the Lakers tried to regain the lead during the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter instead belonged to the Nuggets and point guard Jamal Murray who once again pleaded to shed the “bubble Murray” moniker that has followed him since his hot tear in the 2020 NBA Bubble Playoffs.
Murray finished the night with 37 points and set up a personal fourth quarter highlight after scoring 23 points in the most important quarter of the game.
