Paige Spiranac's brutal swipe at 'superb actor' LeBron James

Social media sensation Paige Spiranac has delivered a perfectly executed swipe at LeBron James, after the Los Angeles Lakers star guided his side to a dramatic Western Conference NBA play-in game win over the Golden State Warriors.

James made a long, go-ahead three-pointer with 58.2 seconds remaining, rallying the Lakers to a 103-100 victory, despite another impressive scoring performance from league leader Steph Curry.

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The Lakers superstar finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his fifth triple-double of the season, Anthony Davis scored 13 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers overcame 37 points from league scoring champ Curry.

Golden State had a chance to send it into overtime, but Kent Bazemore had a bad inbounds pass and sealed the victory for the Lakers - who earned the seventh seed for the playoffs and a first-round matchup with second-seeded Phoenix.

Golden State host Memphis, who defeated San Antonio 100-96 in Wednesday's other play-in game, for the eighth seed on Friday.

James and Davis were three of 19 from the field in the first half before getting back on track. They combined to go 14 of 22 in the second half.

Los Angeles trailed by 13 at halftime and were down by 12 midway through the third quarter before rallying back.

The defending NBA champions didn't get their first lead until Kyle Kuzma's layup 56 seconds into the fourth quarter put them up 81-79.

The final 12 minutes saw three lead changes and five ties until James' moment of magic sealed the win for the Lakers.

However, much of the focus of the post-game debate centred around an incident between James and Draymond Green, who appeared to poke the Lakers forward in the eye during the dying stages.

James was in the midst of driving to the basket when Green's finger made contact with the eye of the reigning NBA Finals MVP, leaving him lying on the floor for several minutes as medical staff attended to the complaint and issued him with eye drops.

The four-time NBA champion claimed after the game that he could barely see out of one eye, following the earlier contact from Green.

“After the Draymond finger to the eye, I was literally seeing three rims out there. So, I just shot to the middle one,” James told ESPN in a post-game interview.

However, Spiranac and a raft of fans took to social media to label James an "actor", insisting he made much more of the incident than it warranted.

“Space Jam 2 is going be great. LeBron is a superb actor," Spiranac tweeted.

Aussie's Spurs eliminated by Memphis

In the earlier game, Dillon Brooks scored eight of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to put Memphis ahead to stay as the Grizzlies eliminated Aussie Patty Mills and the Spurs.

"It feels good, but I mean we're not in the playoffs yet," Grizzlies guard Ja Morant said. "Just have to turn the page."

The Grizzlies will play at Golden State on Friday night for the No. 8 seed and a first-round series starting Sunday against Joe Ingles' Utah Jazz.

Memphis is trying to snap a skid of three straight seasons without a postseason berth with last season ending with a loss to Portland in the NBA's first play-in game.

"We still have one more in front of us," Grizzlies centre Jonas Valnciunas said.

"Really important. The same importance as tonight. It's going to be do or die. That's how we build our confidence. That's how we build our experience."

Valanciunas had a season-high 23 rebounds and 23 points for Memphis.

with AAP

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