LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James bloodied veteran referee Scott Foster in a collision during the second quarter of Saturday's Game 3 against the Denver Nuggets.

The accidental incident happened with 2:29 left in the second quarter. Denver's Jamal Murray had just made a short jumper to give Denver a 55-48 lead. James turned to run back and catch Denver a step slow in transition. When James took off in a sprint, he ran into Foster, who caught the brunt of the force in his face with his whistle in his mouth, causing some bleeding.

A Lakers medical staffer stopped the bleeding, and Foster told referee Bill Kennedy he was fine.

Denver took a 58-55 lead into halftime, thanks to 30 points from Jamal Murray, who had 37 points, including 23 in the fourth quarter of the Nuggets' 108-103 Game 2 victory Thursday.

James apologized to Foster in a moment caught on mic. "You've been wanting to do that for 25 years," Foster cracked.

The Nuggets went on to win the game 119-108 and grabbed a 3-0 series lead.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron James accidentally bloodies ref Scott Foster in collision