Stephen Curry and LeBron James put on an epic battle Saturday night, but it was the Los Angeles Lakers who got the best of the Golden State Warriors in double overtime, 145-144.
Curry scored a game-high 46 points on 17-of-35 from the field. He made nine 3-pointers. He even put the Warriors up one point with under 5 seconds to play in the second overtime period. But James was fouled with 1.2 seconds left and sunk the go-ahead free-throws.
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The superstar sharpshooter was clearly frustrated as he left the court. Cameras at the Crypto.com Arena caught Curry ripping his jersey in anger as he walked to the locker room.
Curry expressed frustrations with the officiating as well. The Warriors only shot 16 free throws while the Lakers took 43 free throws.
"You want to be in place where the players decide the game or it's consistent on both ends of what you're calling," he said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. "… There were probably three plays that I was involved in where it was a clear bad call."
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As he talked to reporters after the game, Curry reflected on his rivalry with James.
"Every year we get to do this, the back-and-forth battles, all the Finals runs, to the playoffs last year, after the horn sounded tonight, there was a little laugh of we can't like imagine a scenario where a game like tonight happens, his year, what, 21, and my year 15," Curry said of James. "All the other guys in the league who have been doing it 15-plus years, KD (Kevin Durant), CP (Chris Paul), it's insane.
"You look forward to the battles, but you also appreciate the mutual respect of what it takes to keep doing what you're doing at this level because only a few people know how hard it is. I'm happy to be in that group."
James, who had 36, reflected on the moment as well.
"It’s something I’ll be able to talk about with my grandkids, talk about, me being able to compete with one of the greatest players to ever play the game," James said. "So hopefully I can be cool with my grandkids at that point, for sure."
Golden State dropped its sixth game out of its last eight. The Warriors are starting to slip down the Western Conference standings. They are 19-24 and in 12th place.
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