The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a shocking loss to the Boston Celtics on Saturday. They had to go to overtime to win, but the Celtics were too much. This was worse than usual, as the Lakers’ officiating was extremely bad.
The game was tied at 105-105 with just under five seconds left in regulation. When LeBron James drove to the basket, he missed a layup that would have given the Lakers the lead. As time was winding down, Jayson Tatum of the Celtics hit him on the arm, which he should have been penalized for.
The crew chief for the refs, Eric Lewis, admitted that the play was not called. But the Lakers had no chance to contest the call. In fact, the crew didn’t even blow the whistle on the foul. After the layup, the Lakers lost the ball and the Celtics made two free throws to take the lead. However, the Lakers’ staff didn’t try to foul in the final 10 seconds of the quarter, which put them in a bad position for the rest of the game.
With four seconds left in the first overtime period, LeBron James tried to drive to the rim but failed to score. He was fouled, but his shot was blocked. Patrick Beverley was given a technical foul after he showed a video of the foul to the ref. Despite the technical, the Celtics led the Lakers 121-125 in overtime.
LeBron James had a very impressive performance. He scored 41 points, and had nine rebounds and eight assists. It was his fifth 40-plus point game of the season. His team trailed by nine points in the second quarter, but he helped the Lakers close out the half with a 7-2 run. During the second quarter, LeBron made three of his five shots, including an 18-foot jumper, and scored nine of his 15 points during the period.
When the Celtics made their layup, they knew that they had to keep their momentum going, as the Lakers were playing remarkably well. But they could not stop the streak. The Lakers were outscored by 12 points in the first quarter, and the Celtics jumped out to a nine-point lead in the second.
At the end of the fourth quarter, LeBron James was on the floor, clenching his fists and flailing his legs. He was attempting to drive through the Celtics defense when he was hacked by Jayson Tatum. Replays showed that Tatum was in the air and made contact with LeBron James’ arm. Despite the obvious foul, the officials didn’t call it, and the game went into overtime.
Obviously, the Lakers were stunned by the outcome, as well as the poor officiating. While there was no retroactive apology from the NBA, James expressed his frustration in a savage manner. Some NBA fans took to social media to express their disapproval of the officials’ decision. Shaquille O’Neal also expressed his feelings.
The Lakers’ officiating was a big reason they dropped this game to the Celtics. Earlier in the season, Patrick Beverley had missed a couple of crucial free throws against Boston, and his dunk after the miss was criticized by the Lakers.
