LeFumble! Lakers’ James botches wide-open dunk and misses a crucial fourth-quarter layup

LeFumble! Lakers’ James botches wide-open dunk and misses a crucial fourth-quarter layup as LA blows 11-point lead to Denver in DISASTROUS Game 2 defeat

  • James finished the game with a near triple-double despite his poor shooting late
  • Jamal Murray dominated the fourth quarter scoring 23 of his 37 points  
  • DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news 

In an altogether unfamiliar scene for Lakers fans and LeBron James, the four-time MVP botched a wide-open dunk in Denver on Thursday night as Los Angeles blew a winnable Western Conference Finals game to the top-seeded Nuggets. 

The viral moment happened 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 signature reverse windmill dunks. Instead he fumbled the ball into the stands after losing his grip.

After the game, James said the play was ‘an unforced era by myself,’ and ‘horrible.’ Shortly after the blunder, ‘Father Time’ started trending as users joked that the 38-year-old James’s age factored into the shocking blunder.

Cleveland Cavilers superstar Donovan Mitchell was one of those who weighed in, saying ‘never seen that’ with laughing emojis.

James ended the game with 22 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds, nearly recording a triple-double in defeat. 

Lakers SF LeBron James surprisingly fumbled a dunk while he was wide open on a fast break

James also shot poorly from deep and put forth minimal impact in the fourth quarter of play

James also shot poorly from deep and put forth minimal impact in the fourth quarter of play

Cavs star Donovan Mitchell was one of many on social media who reacted to the blooper

Cavs star Donovan Mitchell was one of many on social media who reacted to the blooper 

His shooting numbers and his performance down the stretch in the fourth quarter however left much room for improvement. Most troubling was a blown up-and-under layup, which resulted in an air ball for the four-time NBA champion. 

James shot 9-19 from the field and more notably went 0-6 from beyond the arc. Interestingly enough, James has missed 19 straight 3-pointers in the fourth and final quarter of games since the start of the first round this year.

That marks the longest streak of any player in the last 25 postseasons. 

He also had several key turnovers down as the Lakers tried to claw their way back into the lead during the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter instead was owned by the Nuggets and point guard Jamal Murray who once again made a strong case to shed the ‘bubble Murray’ moniker that has followed him since his hot tear in the 2020 NBA bubble playoffs.

Murray ended the night with 37 points and put together a personal highlight reel in the fourth quarter after scoring 23 points in the games most important quarter.

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