D'Angelo Russell complains on social media about officiating

The former All-Star Russell was referencing an overturned foul call in the final minute of the third quarter (when the Lakers were up 79-69). He was hit in the face by Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. on a drive to the basket, and the whistle blew. But the Nuggets challenged the foul call and successfully got it overturned. Thus, instead of two free throws for Russell, Denver got the ball back and entered the fourth quarter with some momentum.

Here is the video of the play, which was shown extensively on the TNT broadcast during the review.

While the optics of that overturned foul call don’t look great, it was probably the correct decision. The contact was deemed marginal because the ball was already out of Russell’s hands, and thereby the blow to the face didn’t affect the shot at all. It was also a different situation from contact occurring after the release of a shot by a jump shooter, which is still a foul if the defender encroaches on the offensive player’s landing space (as the league wants to prevent injuries that can occur on those plays).

The Lakers still had a full 12 minutes after the overturned call to hold their double-digit lead and finish off the job yet failed to do so. But you can somewhat understand Russell’s frustration since he had a tremendous game on Monday with 23 points on seven three-pointers (after getting roasted for his Game 1 dud) and yet still had to take the L.