LeBron James had a chance to give the Los Angeles Lakers some major momentum on a breakaway dunk against the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their playoff matchup on Thursday night.
But James went up for the dunk and did something most fans have never seen before – the ball slipped out of his hands. The Lakers superstar had six points at the time and would have boosted the team’s lead over the Nuggets in the second quarter, but the bobble was what caught the attention of the NBA world.
Anthony Edwards had 27 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves past Los Angeles 118-111 on Thursday and hand the Lakers — with LeBron James sitting out on the second night of back-to-back games — their fourth straight loss.
The Wolves — also playing for a second straight night — tied Boston at 21-6 for the NBA ‘s best record.
“All credit to the guys for getting the win on a back-to-back. I know there might not have been a full tank for everyone, but that’s one of those games where if it goes 3 more minutes, we may lose it,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points for Minnesota before limping to the locker room for further examination on a lower-leg injury — Finch said Towns took a “bang” but had no update on his condition — with 5:07 left. By then, the Wolves were awake after a sleepy third quarter.
Mike Conley finished with 16 points, eight assists and two of the team’s 13 steals and Rudy Gobert had 15 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks as the Wolves avoided consecutive losses for the first time this season and improved to 12-1 at home.
“We just use our depth and our size,” Conley said. “That can be overwhelming for certain teams at certain times, and it allows us to just be unpredictable every night.
Anthony Davis had 31 points and eight rebounds, and Rui Hachimura — in the starting lineup with James out to rest tendinitis in his ankle — scored 18 points as the Lakers fell to 1-5 since winning the NBA In-Season Tournament. They’re 15-14 overall and 5-11 on the road.
