LeBron James woke up on his 39th birthday in bad shape. He is sick and it is unclear whether he will be able to play in the Los Angeles Lakers’ trip to the top team Minnesota Timberwolves.
This is the first of a pair of games taking place in two days (both away, one in Minnesota and the other in New Orleans), giving James even more reason to rest.
But in the end, LeBron still decided to play on his birthday and did what he usually does – make important shots.
It’s just that the “king’s” long throw was only counted by the referees as 2 points when his foot seemed to have stepped on the line, causing the Lakers to lose the final score 106-108.
Anthony Edwards led the Minnesota team with 31 points, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Naz Reid contributed another 21 points and 2 blocks despite coming from the bench. Rudy Robert had a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds.
As for the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Davis almost pocketed a triple-double with 33 points, 17 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks and 8 assists. LeBron James scored 26 points with 6 assists and 3 steals.
Today was a very good defensive day for the Lakers, forcing the Timberwolves into 17 errors of losing the ball and causing Karl-Anthony Towns to mentally suffer, leading to many personal errors.
But on offense, the Los Angeles team missed too many 3-pointers and left the match in a tense situation. From there, LeBron James’ controversial late-game throw appeared.
James received the ball from Anthony Davis in a quick counterattack, the playing time was now measured in seconds. Because he was leading by 3 points, LeBron decided to slow down to throw far and the ball went into the basket.
However, the referees’ on-court decision was 2 points because the Lakers player’s foot stepped on the line. After carefully reviewing the slow-motion video, the referee team still agreed to maintain the decision to count 2 points despite James’s fierce protest.
“I feel very confused with the slow motion system. What’s the point of it appearing in slow motion but the referees still make the wrong decision? “, LeBron James asserted that his shot should count for 3 points.
The Minnesota Timberwolves were prepared for a situation where the ball counted 3 points and the score was tied. Anthony Edwards shared after the game that he accepted the responsibility of throwing the game-winning shot and was assigned the task by the head coach.
“ I don’t know if it was 2 or 3 points, but the coaching staff had already drawn up a run for me to throw the last shot. I myself was ready to throw the game-winner because I thought it was a 3-point shot. When I heard the announcement from the referee, I realized they only counted 2 points ,” Edwards said.
This is the second time the Minnesota Timberwolves have defeated the Los Angeles Lakers within 10 days. Last time, the two teams met when LA was without LeBron James on December 22.
There, Anthony Davis, although he played very hard, could not make a difference, losing with a score of 111-118. Now they will have to temporarily forget that controversial whistle and focus on the back-to-back match.
Tomorrow morning (January 1, 2024 Vietnam time), the Los Angeles Lakers will be guests on the field of the New Orleans Pelicans.
