Golden State Warriors defeat LA Lakers after ‘bizarre’ finale as arena announcer forced to announce shot clock

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A strange ending to the game overshadowed the Golden State Warriors' 128-121 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena, when a broken shot clock and a controversial call that negated a LeBron James 3-pointer conspired to add a 23- One minute delay until the last two minutes of the game.

With less than two minutes left and the Lakers trailing the Warriors by just four points, the latest chapter of their rivalry seemed headed toward an exciting conclusion.

But James' 3-pointer was disallowed after he made it when referees ruled he had gone out of bounds, increasing the Lakers' deficit to seven with just 1:50 remaining.

The shot clock then failed and after several attempts to restart the game and fix the clock, the referees finally determined that the arena public address announcer would announce the time remaining on the clock in five-second intervals in real time.

“I'd never seen it called that before, at that particular time,” James said afterward, according to ESPN. “That was a little strange. … It took away some of our momentum.”

He finished the game with 40 points, matching his season high, nine assists and eight rebounds, while attempting to lead his team to victory without Anthony Davis, who had left the game injured after the first quarter.

James' old rival Steph Curry contributed 31 points for the Warriors when he returned to the court after three games out with a sprained right ankle, while Klay Thompson added 26 points off the bench.

“(The ending) was strange.” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters afterward. “It seems like a few times a year you have trouble with the clock. This is the most extreme thing I've been a part of where the backup drive also doesn't work. It's unfortunate, I felt bad for the fans.

“That was a great game and suddenly in the last two minutes everyone was looking at each other wondering what to do.”

It had been a very balanced game even after the Lakers lost Davis and his defensive ability, allowing the Warriors to attack more from inside the paint, racking up points in that area of ​​the court.

But the “flow” of the game was interrupted after James' 3-point challenge, Kerr said afterward, adding that he would “love to see that rule go away.”

“We are trying very hard to make everything go well at the expense of flow. “Who cares if the guy’s foot is half an inch (longer)…is it worth going back 45 seconds and changing everything?”

James, however, defended the decision, adding that while it was “unfortunate what happened,” referees “have a job to do and they have to do it to the best of their ability.”