LA missed out on two free throws that could have staved off OT.
Last night, your Los Angeles Lakers put up a brave fight against a Boston Celtics team missing two of its defensive anchors, lost in confounding fashion to the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. With the game knotted up at 105-105 near the end of regulation, LA All-Star power forward LeBron James drove inside for a layup.
His Boston counterpart, All-Star power forward Jayson Tatum, fouled him on the left arm as he attempted the shot. No foul was called. James, a 77% free throw shooter this season, would have likely at least made one, thus sealing a win for the Lakers.
Instead, the game went to overtime, and the Celtics eventually won the contest 125-121. Boston thus sweeps its season series with LA, with both games being surprisingly hard-fought overtime affairs.
Following the contest, James bemoaned what he felt has been a series of suspect ref decisions. NBA Twitter also proved critical of the non-call last night.
Around an hour after the game ended, the officiating crew got ahead of the NBA’s last two-minute report postmortem, officially conceding the missed call.
The NBA’s last two-minute report for the game, released today, has now verified that James was indeed fouled by Tatum.
