A mysterious fall, an angry outburst, and a blowout loss.
No, it was not an ideal Game 2 for LeBron James and the Lakers, who fell to the Warriors on Thursday night, 127-100.
James led the Lakers with 23 points but was helpless to stop the Warriors pull away in the second half for the easy win that evened the series, 1-1.
Fans noted that James took a strange fall right before halftime, seemingly crashing to the ground for no reason at all.
“Wait… Why did LeBron fall down??” the NBC Sports’ Warriors account wrote along with a skull emoji and video of the scene.
It only got worse for James after halftime.
With the Warriors’ lead up to 105-78 near the end of the third quarter, James attempted a 3-pointer with forward Andrew Wiggins closing out to contest the shot.
James was enraged there was no foul called and screamed at referee Pat Fraher all the way down the court.
Fraher finally gave James a technical, essentially ending his night as the Lakers waived the white flag in the fourth quarter and sat most of their regulars.
“You got to keep scoring, get to the free throw line as well, or just get points in the paint,” James said afterward. “They’re going to go on runs. That’s what they do. But you got to keep scoring, try to hold the fort down.”
The Lakers, though, still left San Francisco with a split after taking Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series, 117-112.
James still expressed faith in the Lakers’ defense as the series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday night.
“We’re still the best defensive team in the league, if not one of them,” James said. “So that doesn’t change. That’s what we hang our hats on. … That doesn’t stop no matter who we’re playing against.”