The ‘King’ had tied the game in Minnesota at the buzzer…but the referees considered it a two-point basket
Lebron James was unable to celebrate his 39th birthday this Saturday with a victory when his Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-106 after a controversial referee decision in the last seconds.

The Timberwolves led 107-100 with 36 seconds left, but a 3-point play by LeBron added to a free throw made by Austin Reaves after a technical foul by Jaden McDaniels left the score at 107-104 with 31 seconds left.

The howl of the wolf did not help the Timberwolves, who missed a three-pointer after almost running out the possession; Anthony Davis got the rebound and LeBron made a three-pointer with an epic shot to tie the game with three seconds remaining.

The basket went in, but the referees awarded only two points, a controversial decision that exasperated LeBron after seeing that the enlarged television images failed to clarify whether or not he stepped on the three-point line by millimeters. In the end, the Timberwolves took the game 108-106.

The Lakers (17-16), with a very irregular performance since they won the NBA Cup three weeks ago, had just won 133-112 on Thursday against the Charlotte Hornets. The Timberwolves (24-7), the best team in the West, had also beaten Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks (118-110) on Thursday.

Anthony Edwards was the most decisive of the Timberwolves with 31 points; Naz Reid from the bench scored 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 1 assist . Rudy Gobert, for his part, had a double-double (13 points and 13 rebounds). For the Lakers, the best was Anthony Davis with 33 points, 17 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks. LeBron had 26 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block.

LeBron, in action.

LeBron, in action. . LAPRESSE

With this victory, the Timberwolves remain first in the West , above the Oklahoma City Thunder (21-9); The Lakers, for their part, remain in the positions that give access to the ‘play-in’.

Lakers hit, Wolves respond

Anthony Davis wanted to steal the spotlight from birthday boy LeBron at the start of the game. With 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in the first quarter alone, he led his Lakers to an eleven lead (6-17) after five minutes of play.

The Timberwolves reacted and through their collective play little by little they undid the advantage that the Lakers had built until the score was 29-31 at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter was a carbon copy of the first: the Los Angeles team quickly got within 10 (29-39), but again the Timberwolves left that advantage to nothing and even took the lead on the scoreboard before halftime, leaving a 61-57 lead. in the bright

Davis and James only scored 4 points each in this second quarter – for a total of 21 and 10 at halftime – while for the Timberwolves, Antony Edwards and Naz Reid scored 9 and 10 for a total of 15 and 16, respectively. -.

LeBron hugs Towns.

LeBron hugs Towns. . LAPRESSE

Millimeter victory

The Timberwolves took the initiative in the third quarter, in which the Lakers managed to equalize, but never take the lead. It was a defensive quarter, with a poor 21-20 run, caused in part by the Lakers’ lack of accuracy – 28.6% in field goals – and which ended 82-77 in favor of the Timberwolves.

The Lakers did not want to upset LeBron on his birthday and at the beginning of the last quarter they overcame the advantage and took the lead (83-84) for the first time since the break. The Wolves showed why they are the best team in the West and took the lead again in a give-and-take finish to the game until they achieved a 7-point lead with 36 seconds remaining .

El triple de los Lakers a tres segundos de la bocina podría haber mandado el partido a la prórroga, pero la decisión de los árbitros de que fuesen solo 2 puntos por haber pisado la línea por milímetros amargó definitivamente a Lebron su cumpleaños