LeBron James and the Lakers have not gotten an accurate whistle down the stretch of a handful of games this season, and it burned them again Saturday night in a brutal 125-121 overtime loss against the Celtics in Boston.
With the score tied at 105, the Lakers had a frontcourt sideline out of bounds with 4.1 seconds to play in regulation. LeBron curled around the top for the inbound pass and continued directly downhill, getting all the way to the rim for a game-winning layup attempt. He didn’t even draw iron, and for an obvious reason. He was clearly fouled by Jayson Tatum, who hacked clear as day straight across LeBron’s left forearm.
Here’s a closer look.
Never mind the rigged comment in the tweet. These games are not rigged. They just missed the call, plain and simple. Per multiple reports, the league didn’t even wait for its usual next-day Last Two Minute Report to admit that they missed the call.
You can understand LeBron’s frustration reaching a boiling point. This isn’t the first time this has happened to him or the Lakers this season. Heck, it’s not even the first time it’s happened this month.
Indeed, James was burned by a no-call on another potential game-winning layup attempt in a double-overtime loss to Dallas on Jan. 12; the Last Two Minute Report confirmed that Christian Wood indeed hacked LeBron with the score tied and the final seconds ticking down at the end of the first overtime.
So, yeah, this is another tough beat for LeBron and the Lakers, who don’t have the error margin to absorb multiple late-game robberies. That said, in both the examples referenced, the Lakers never should’ve been in a position to be wronged by the officials in the first place.
After the loss to the Mavericks, Darvin Ham admitted he was “kicking [himself] in the butt” for not double-teaming Luka Doncic with the Lakers up three at the end of regulation, instead letting him play one on one and ultimately hit the game-tying 3-pointer.
But that wasn’t Ham’s first or biggest mistake on that possession. He should’ve had…
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