It was not a great ending to the NBA Rivals Week as the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers game got all the hype for all the wrong reasons. It was mainly due to a controversial no-call that irked Lakers talisman LeBron James which changed the course of the game and the Celtics got the win 125-121 in overtime.
The instance was clear with LeBron James driving to the paint and during his rise to the basket, Jayson Tatum tried stealing the ball away with a swipe. But his hand clearly brushed LeBron’s arm and was a clear foul. However the referee missed it completely and gave a no-call favouring the Celtics which irked a lot of people including Lakers coach Darvin Ham, players LeBron James, Anthony Davis, etc. Patrick Beverley even took a camera to the court to show the referee that he was wrong, creating a very hilarious scene for the fans.
LeBron James and many other players took to social media to address their concerns over these poor refereeing decisions which had often changed the course of many games. Lakers player pointed out how they are a victim of these calls in at least 4-5 games every season.
Amidst all of this, LeBron James taunted Jayson Tatum on Instagram as he posted the story of the play and captioned it by saying, “Good block Jayson Tatum.”
The 38-year-old star was furious after the game as that call would have ended up in Lakers’ favour with him going down the foul line and attempting two free throws rather it was a no-call which aided their opponents and eventually the Celtics won in overtime. He then questioned the official indirectly asking what more he needs to do to get more calls. “It’s challenging, really challenging. I don’t get it. I’m attacking the paint just as much as any of the other guys in this league shooting double-digit free throws a night. I don’t get it. I don’t understand it,” LeBron questioned the officials.
The veteran averages 9.8 drives to the paint per game and only receives about two free throws on an average from those drives. He is overall averaging 6.2 free throws per game, which puts him in 22nd ranking in the NBA. It is surprising for the fans and also for the experts as he drives to the pain pretty often, making space through tight defenses and often get obstructed unfairly.
Jayson Tatum came up with a cheeky response as he termed the last couple of minutes in regulation and the overtime as a ‘blur’. He replied to LeBron James’ story saying, “Last night was blur… good game champ.”
It was good of Tatum to hold his stance as he came up with a normal response because he knew that the referees also missed a call. This win helped the Celtics get back to winning ways as they are still at the top of the Eastern Conference. Whereas the Lakers are still languishing in 13th position in the Western Conference.
