NBA official's brilliant reaction to LeBron James after LA Lakers star ...

Long-time NBA referee Scott Foster found himself bleeding from his mouth after an accidental collision with LeBron James.

James had been running back on defence when he inadvertently mowed down the referee in their playoff game with the Denver Nugget s. Although the stakes were high, the two shared a joke with one another as James apologised to him.

James said: "He's bleeding," before Foster responded in a calming tone saying: "Relax, relax, I got it."

Lakers teammate Austin Reaves then comes over to the referee joking: "That should be a technical foul, honestly," before Foster tells LeBron: "You've been wanting to do that for 25 years!".

It was a cheerful moment in what was another tough night for the Lakers and James, who fell to a third defeat to the Nuggets.

Denver once again looked like the better team, and when it mattered most they saw the fourth quarter out with two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray having impressive nights once again.

James did have a solid game himself, scoring 23 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds, while Reaves also scored 23 points. But the Lakers now find themselves 3-0 down heading into game four on Monday night, a deficit that no team in NBA history has ever been able to overcome.

The Lakers most bitter rivals, the Boston Celtics, will also hope to avoid going into a 3-0 deficit on Sunday when they face the Miami Heat.

The Heat came into the playoffs as the huge underdogs after finishing with the eighth seed, but have gone on to knock out the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and now have a commanding lead over the Celtics.

The C's have had strong performances in both games before capitulating in the fourth quarter, with Jimmy Butler making huge plays in both outings. The two teams face off in Miami for the first time on Sunday before game four being held on Tuesday.