The Lakers lost against the Celtics in a tense battle that went to overtime (121-125). If not for a mistake by the officials that did not call a foul against LeBron James who drove to the basket for a layup with 0.1 seconds left to play in the fourth quarter, most likely Los Angeles would have won the game.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham did not explicitly criticise the referees, but made it clear that it is becoming an trend for his team that the official miss calls against the players.
“I can’t speak for anyone but myself. As much as you try not to put it on officiating, it’s becoming increasingly difficult,” Ham said. “There’s a bunch of stuff we could have done better in this game, but for the most part we competed our behinds off, played the right way, played together, stayed aggressive, playing downhill, playing in the paint.
“It’s unfortunate that the game ends on a play like that. It’s unfortunate. You don’t ask for favoritism you just ask for consistency. That’s it. Apparently, I used my challenge too soon. It is what it is.
“My hat’s off to the Celtics – championship-level ball club. Played two nail-biters against these guys – one in our place and one here tonight.
“It’s a silver lining for me. It’s what I told my team after the game. We compete like this, with everybody getting guys back in the lineup now we compete as hard as we competed tonight to start this trip, then we’re going to be okay the rest of the way.”
“The best player on Earth can’t get a call – it’s amazing,” he said referring to the final play of the fourth quarter by James.
