BOSTON—LeBron James drove to the basket at the end of regulation for a layup as time expired against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, January 28. King James was clearly hit across the arm, but referee Eric Lewis ignored the call, and the Celtics prevailed in OT, 125-121 at TD Garden Arena. James had 41 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.
“I don’t understand. I don’t understand what we’re doing, and I watch basketball every single day,” said James, who sat with a towel covering his head during overtime and barely looked up as he spoke from at his locker. “I watch games every single day and I don’t see it happening to nobody else. It’s just weird.”
Jaylen Brown was magnificent scoring a team high 37 points, completing a tying three-point play with 4.1 seconds left in regulation and adding 11 more points in overtime to help the Celtics snap a three-game losing streak.
Brown added nine rebounds, Jayson Tatum had 30 points and 11 rebounds, and Malcom Brogdon scored 15 of his 26 points in the second half of a see-saw game that had 19 lead changes — six in the fourth quarter — and 15 ties.
Anthony Davis had 16 points with 10 rebounds, coming off the bench for the second game in a row after missing 20 with a foot injury. Patrick Beverley scored 15 points, twice giving the Lakers the lead in the final minute of the fourth, including a thrilling dunk off a missed shot with 15 seconds remaining. Beverley’s first slam dunk since the 2019-20 season.
Love him or hate him, Beverly is one of the most passionate and controversial players in the NBA. When he plays it can be a double-edged sword.
However, he is a spark plug for the Purple and Gold, his solution to the missed call was albeit, a funny approach to the situation that cost them in Overtime.
Beverley grabbed a camera courtside in an effort to show referee Lewis what everyone who watched the replay already knew: James was fouled on his missed layup at the end of regulation.
Instead of getting the call, Beverley drew a technical foul that gave Boston the lead to start overtime and the NBA-leading Celtics swept the season series against the Lakers both in heartbreaking fashions.
When asked why there was no foul call on the final play of regulation and what he saw in the play, Lewis stated that while there was contact, the officials did not see it at the time of the play, simply stating that “the crew missed the play.”
On Monday, January 30, the Lakers travel to the Barclay Center to face Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets. The chase for Kareem’s scoring record continues, as LeBron is only 117 points away from becoming the NBA All-Time leading scorer.
