When victory was stolen by mistake, NBA’s LA Lakers LeBron James (39) held his head and knelt down.
The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics 121-125 after overtime in the 2022-23 season NBA regular league game held at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on the 29th (Korean time). A misjudgment ruined the classic match between the two teams.
The controversial scene came from 메이저놀이터 the last attack scene of the LA Lakers right before the end of the 4th quarter against 105-105. With 4 seconds left, LA Lakers James broke through the defense and shot a left-handed layup, but it did not go in.
Replays show that Boston’s Jayson Tatum, who was following him, apparently struck James on the left arm. Two free throws were awarded to James to end the game, but the referee did not outright foul and the game went into overtime.
Enraged by the verdict, James clutched his head and screamed, spinning his coat in circles. He took his left hand and complained of being hit by his opponent. Unfortunate, James fell to his knees and buried his face in his coat. Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverly entered the court with a camera of the foul scene and showed it to the referee and protested, and received a technical foul.
After an overtime game, the Los Angeles Lakers lost by 4 points. James recorded 41 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, including 6 3-pointers, in 44 minutes, but tasted the loss. Boston scored 37 points (9 rebounds, 8 assists), including Jayler Brown driving in 11 points in overtime alone, while Tatum added 30 points.
With the loss, the Los Angeles Lakers stayed in 13th place (23-27) in the Western Conference, putting their hopes of making the playoffs farther away. On the other hand, Boston ran to the top of the Eastern Conference (36-15).
After the game, Los Angeles Lakers coach Davin Hamm said, ‘The best player on the planet can’t be called (referee). It’s amazing,” he criticized. LA Lakers’ Anthony Davis also said, “It’s unacceptable and I assure you nothing will happen to the umpires. Tonight we got scammed. It was a blatant foul.” James also said, “Didn’t you see my reaction? I can’t understand (the judgment),” he said.
Eric Lewis, who served as the referee, also acknowledged the mistake, saying, “The referees missed the play.” It is known that the LA Lakers have already been recognized as a mistake by the league secretariat.
James, who scored 38,271 points by adding 41 points that day, chased Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time high score (38,387 points) by 117 points. Considering the average point scored this season is 30.2, they need four games ahead. He may break the record against New Orleans on the 4th of next month.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Denver Nuggets 126-119 at home. In a league MVP contender and best big man matchup, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid (47 points-18 rebounds) won by decision over Denver’s Nicolo Yogichi (24 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds). Philadelphia won 7 games in a row and finished second in the Eastern Conference (32-16). Denver maintained its lead in the Western Conference (34-16).