The stage appeared set for another classic finish between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors — who also happen to be neck-and-neck in the West — especially once LeBron James pranced into a corner 3 over Stephen Curry to bring L.A. with four points with 2:07 to go, in front of a star-studded Crypto.com Arena crowd.

Once again, LeBron was on the verge of putting the Lakers — already down Anthony Davis (eye contusion) — on his back in crunch time, in perhaps the most pivotal moment of the playoff race.

Instead, a borderline inexplicable deluge of technical malfunctions and replay reviews brought the action to a screeching, then interminable, halt.

Warriors vs. Lakers clock shenanigans

Early in the fourth quarter, a doomed Warriors possession was given new life when the shot clock mistakenly reset, allowing six extra seconds for Trayce Jackson-Davis to put GS up 104-96 with a layup. The Lakers' bench erupted in dismay.

Fast forward to 1:50; the Lakers trailed 124-120, thanks to LeBron's usual timely percolation. Darvin Ham challenged the possession ruling on a rebound. After a lengthy review, the officials, apparently, had requisite evidence to deem that Andrew Wiggins and Jaxson Hayes touched the ball at precisely the same instance. Jump ball, successful challenge.

During the stoppage, word came down from the NBA replay center that LeBron's heel grazed the out-of-bounds border before his shot over Steph. It was retroactively wiped from existence (the second time this season LeBron's toe has negated a clutch 3).

The Lakers were back down seven, except without the ability to replay those 17 seconds.

“The game goes from a four-point game to a seven-point game in a matter of — it's kind of like you twist back time, but you lose the time,” said Austin Reaves. “I didn't understand the ruling on it or whatever it was. Anytime anything something like that happens, it sucks.”

Draymond Green's hustle save off the ensuing jump ball was miscalled, prompting another, lengthier challenge from the Lakers. By then, though, the energy had left the building.

To compound matters, the arena's shot clock began malfunctioning after a LeBron turnover at the 1:24 mark — leading to not one, not two, not three, but four failed attempts to restart the game.

After nearly three hours of high-stakes basketball, the players stood around for nearly 20 minutes.

When play did resume, PA announcer Lawrence Tanter was forced to count down the shot clock. Fans quickly filtered out as the teams jogged through a few possessions and called it a night. It was about as anti-climactic of a finish to a marquee, competitive NBA game as one can imagine.

The 128-121 result put the Warriors percentage points ahead of the Lakers for the No. 9 seed in the West.

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Lakers react to the clock chaos

For the most part, the Lakers took the high road. But the impact on the flow of the game, and perhaps the blood flow to the players' muscles, was undeniable.

“It messes with the rhythm, but you want to try to get it right,” said LeBron. “So, all good.”

“It's hard,” said Ham. “Guys stiffen up real quick after playing with such a high intensity and it throws off the rhythm of the game. But it's out of anyone's control when the computer malfunctions. It is what it is.”

Ham said the arena clock operators were out of answers, while the game officials relayed that “New York looks at everything” when explaining the league's reversal of LeBron's basket. LeBron (who dropped 40 points) said his understanding was that “all 2s and 3s are reviewable,” so he “didn't know” why the Jackson-Davis basket wasn't disallowed.

“I've never seen that be called like that, in that particular time,” said LeBron. “That was kind of weird.”

“One of the challenges, they realized Bron's heel was on the sidelines, so we get three points taken away,” said Ham. “Clock malfunctions when we're about to get a defensive stop. They end up getting two points when it should have been a shot clock violation. It's just a lot. And then all the stoppages down the stretch. It's just a lot.”

According to the pool report, the specific nature of LeBron's infraction rendered that play reviewable once the Lakers called time out to challenge. The accidental clock reset that benefited the Warriors, by contrast, was not reviewable, per the rulebook.

“Yeah. It just seems a little unfair,” stated D'Angelo Russell. “I'd rather not really go in on that. Don't wanna get fined.”

Not exactly as Adam Silver drew it up.