LeBron James trolled team-mate Anthony Davis for his "brain fart" moment after inspiring the Los Angeles Lakers to a comeback victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
James, 38, led the way for the Lakers by scoring 30 points, making 10 rebounds and recording six assists, sending his side into the playoffs where they'll face the Memphis Grizzlies as seventh seed. Trailing by as much as 15 points in the third quarter, James and Davis were among those who produced the goods to salvage a dramatic 108-102 win - but it wasn't a straightforward comeback.
Davis threatened to derail the Lakers' hopes when team-mate Dennis Schroder thought he'd bagged the winner with 1.4 seconds remaining. 'AD', though, was deemed to have fouled Mike Conley behind the arc, allowing the Timberwolves point guard to drain all three free throws and and force overtime. Fortunately for the red-faced Lakers star, Rui Hachimura's early three-pointer in overtime ended the visitors' hopes of victory and allowed James to hilariously troll Davis for the moment which could've proved costly.
In a post-game interview with TNT, the 38-year-old joked at Davis' expense: "It's unfortunate that AD had a brain fart and messed [Schroder's] game-winner up." Davis then came on screen, admitting: "I messed his game winner up, I apologise. I definitely apologise."
James went on to say of the crucial victory: "This is what all sports is all about. Getting to April and having an opportunity to play in the post-season. We were battle-tested all year, and since the break, we played really great basketball. And that's a good a** team, Minnesota, no matter who they have in their line-up."
Schroder, who's German, added: "It took everything out of us to get to where we are, and it took more out of us tonight,' Davis added. But we've got a couple of days before we go to Memphis to start preparing for them. It's been a battle. It's been an up-and-down season for us, but now is the time to show who we are, and we showed it tonight."
Have your say! Will the LA Lakers win the playoffs? Give us your prediction in the comments section.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham went on to say: "Once you get to the end of things, to have everyone healthy, to be playing in the type of rhythm we're playing in, to defend at the level that we're defending at, going into the most important time of the year, you can't ask for a better situation."
It wasn't all praise for the Lakers in the aftermath, however, as the Timberwolves were criticised for allowing the game to slip away. "This was not about the Lakers coming back, this was about the Timberwolves choking the game away," TNT analyst Charles Barkley declared.
The Lakers will take on the Grizzlies in Memphis on Sunday, getting underway at 8pm UK time. James will be hoping to register a record 175th win in the playoffs, the most of any NBA player.
