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LeBron James and the Lakers got a huge 109-102 win over the Suns last night in Phoenix to even the series at one game apiece as it shifts to Los Angels for the next two games.
Anthony Davis had a huge night for the Lakers, finishing with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. He was big on the defensive end down the stretch, too, as he helped keep the Suns at bay with his presence in the paint.
Davis, though, shouldn’t have been around down the stretch. He shouldn’t have even been in the game at all after what he did just 58 seconds into the contest.
I’m talking, of course, about when he kicked Jae Crowder right in the groin while shooting a jump shot. Shooters have been kicking out their legs for a long time now trying to draw a foul, though they often get called for it.
Check this groin shot out:
Jae Crowder. Ouch 😬 pic.twitter.com/AFRLjqOeXz
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 26, 2021
Ooooof.
The refs reviewed the play and ended up giving Davis a Flagrant 1, though it really should have been a Flagrant 2 and an ejection because come on, you just can’t kick an opponent in the groin like that. It’s not cool at all.
What made things worse for Crowder was that he was called for a foul on that play for hitting Davis’ arm on the shot and that foul stood, too. Talk about insult to injury. It was also his second foul in the first minute of the game so he went right to the bench after shooting the technical free throw.
If Davis had been ejected there is no chance the Lakers would have won that game last night. The defending champs would have headed home down 0-2 and their playoff run would be in serious jeopardy of being an extremely short one.
But he wasn’t ejected and now the Lakers have new life, which is a joke. Davis deserved to be sent to the locker room after that but we all know there’s no way the refs were going to do that to such a big star in such a big game, especially since it happened just 58 seconds into it.
The Suns and their fans should be livid over that decision and carry that anger into Game 3 on Thursday night.
Because the Lakers don’t deserve to be tied up in the series. They should be down 0-2.
And AD should apologize to Crowder for that groin shot. Come on, man.
Quick hits: Bryon DeChambeau responds to THAT video… Royals roast New Era hat… A.J. Brown recruiting Julio Jones… And more.
– Bryson DeChambeau saw the angry Brooks Koepka video and had the most Bryson DeChambeau reaction to it.
– New Era (briefly) released some special “Local Market” MLB hats on Tuesday and got roasted by the Royals for what they left off Kansas City’s hats.
– Titans star WR A.J. Brown shared a voice message to Julio Jones about joining him in Tennessee.
– IndyCar champ Scott Dixon spoke to our Michelle Martinelli about winning the Indy 500 pole, driving at 240 mph and his celebratory milk choice.
– Kenny Mayne asked Marshawn Lynch about aliens and the former RB’s answer was so good.