LeFumble! Lakers James bungles wide-open dunk and misses crucial fourth quarter layup as LA blows 11-point lead to Denver in disastrous Game 2 loss
- James ended the game with a near triple-double despite his poor shooting late on
- Jamal Murray dominated the fourth quarter with 23 of his 37 points
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In an entirely unfamiliar scene to Lakers fans and LeBron James, the four-time MVP botched a wide-open dunk Thursday night in Denver as Los Angeles blew a winnable Western Conference Finals game to the top-seeded Nuggets.
The viral moment occurred midway through the second quarter of the 108-103 Game 2 loss when James had an open fast break and appeared to be attempting one of his trademark reverse windmill dunks. Instead, he fumbled the ball into the stands after losing his grip.
After the game, James said the play was “a casual era by myself” and “awful”. Shortly after the gaffe, “Father Time” started trending as users joked that the age of 38-year-old James played a role in the shocking gaffe.
Cleveland Cavilers superstar Donovan Mitchell was among those who joined in, saying “never seen it” with laughing emojis.
James finished the game with 22 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, nearly recording a triple-double in a loss.
Lakers SF LeBron James surprisingly fumbled a dunk while wide open on a quick break
James also shot poorly from deep and had minimal impact in the fourth quarter of the game
Cavs star Donovan Mitchell was one of many on social media to respond to the blooper
However, his shooting numbers and fourth quarter performance left a lot of room for improvement. Most troubling was a blown up-and-under layup that resulted in an airball for the four-time NBA champion.
James shot 9-19 from the field and more specifically went 0-6 from beyond the arc. Interestingly, James has missed 19 straight 3-pointers in the fourth and final quarter of games since the first round began this year.
That marks the longest streak of any player in the last 25 postseasons.
He also had some significant revenue declines as the Lakers attempted to come back to the lead in the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was instead in the hands of the Nuggets and point guard Jamal Murray, who made another strong case to shed the “bubble Murray” moniker that has followed him since his hot tear in the NBA bubble playoffs of 2020.
Murray finished the night with 37 points, compiling a personal high in the fourth quarter after scoring 23 points in the game’s key quarter.