Lakers vs Warriors is always must-see television. Stardom. Drama. Great basketball – The rivalry has it all. Sure enough, that was the case tonight as well. But this time, it was the drama that took over as Draymond Green’s controversial foul on LeBron James left the four-time MVP furious at the in-game officials, demanding a strict penalty.

It happened in the opening minutes of the second half. With the Lakers trailing by eleven points, LeBron drove to the basket hoping to cut down the lead to single digits. But he was met at the rim by Draymond, who bumped into him and hit him with a hard foul inside the paint, trying everything to avoid his shot from going in. Shaken up by the hit, LBJ fell to the floor as Green seemingly tried to hold him up. As expected, the officials called a foul on the former DPOY. But LeBron was not satisfied!

He got back up and began arguing with the officials, complaining about the foul being flagrant. The Lakers superstar was seen yelling at the refs on the sidelines while JJ Redick backed him up. As a result, the officials decided to review the foul for a potential flagrant call. But the replay didn’t show any signs of hostile act by Green and they stuck to their original decision of a common foul.

Even TNT announcer Reggie Miller seemed a bit confused by the whole debacle as he said on Live TV, “It did look like Draymond was trying to hold him up. They’re gonna go to the monitor. Initially I didn’t think they were going to because it did look like he was trying to hold him up but JJ Redick was emphatic that he swiped down.” The Pacers legend also pointed out that the only reason refs agreed to review the foul was because of Draymond’s reputation. Of course, he has committed several unsportsmanlike acts during his career. But the foul on LeBron was not one of them. Following the final call, the game continued as usual and LBJ converted one of the two resulting free throws. In the end however, it was Draymond who got the last laugh.

Warriors avoid getting swept by Lakers despite LeBron James’ dominant performance

In their three previous meetings this season, the LA team was undefeated against Stephen Curry and Co. Moreover, James was dominant in all three games, dropping double-doubles on each occasion and averaging 32.6 points. Even tonight, he caught fire in the second half. After scoring just eight points in the first period, LeBron went off in the second and finished with 33-points and nine assists – His highest scoring game since return from groin injury.

Unfortunately, that was not enough to get Lakers the win this time. With their impressive effort, the Warriors avoided the season sweep and more importantly, won the most crucial game of the entire series. Sure, Draymond did not have a high scoring game. But he played a huge role on defense, tallying 11 rebounds and one block. Meanwhile, Steph and Brandin Podziemski combined for 65 points.

With tonight’s win, the Warriors will hold on to their fifth seed whereas the Lakers will fall to the fourth, at least for now. A pivotal night ahead of the playoffs. Thoughts?