"There's physical fatigue, there's mental fatigue," Barkley said. "Luka missed a layup. LeBron missed a layup. They both had a couple turnovers. That's fatigue." LeBron and Luka disagree.

Instead, it was the Minnesota Timberwolves spoiling James' 38-point gem with a 116-104 victory in Game 3 behind a career night from Jaden McDaniels and another potential torch-passing performance from Anthony Edwards -- who could be on his way to his third dethronement of an all-time great in the past two seasons.

On Sunday, the two stepped onto the court with a similar goal of winning, and it led to an intense battle. Edwards ultimately finished with 43 points as the Wolves won 116-113 to take a 3-1 series lead. James had 27 points and 12 boards while his co-star Luka Dončić posted 38.