Getty Images LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
After another loss that featured a potential foul on a game-winning opportunity, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James took to Twitter to vent about NBA officiating.
With the Lakers down 113-112 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night, Russell Westbrook drove to the rim and had his wonky game-winning attempt blocked. But a closer look shows that Sixers big man Joel Embiid had grabbed Westbrook’s wrist — something Westbrook adamantly pointed out in the locker room after the loss.
“I was trying to get my hand up,” Westbrook said. “I couldn’t get my hand up to shoot because [Embiid] was grabbing it. But it’s all good.”
The play came after a double-overtime loss to the Mavericks in which the Lakers were on the wrong end of a few crucial calls. The first appeared to be a foul on a 3-point attempt by Troy Brown Jr. in the final seconds.
“No, it’s a f–king foul,” James said in the locker room after the game, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “It’s a foul. No matter what [Brown] says, it’s a f–king foul. That s–t is blatant, and they should have called it.”
The NBA admitted they missed a call in the first overtime when James drove to the rim on his own attempt at the game-winner. He was blocked by Christan Wood and argued for a call but didn’t get it. The NBA’s Last Two Minute Report said Wood “initiated contact to James’ left arm before blocking the shot” and the illegal contact affected James’ shot attempt.
James responded to a tweet from an unverified account calling the missed calls a “huge scandal.”
“And all year they keep telling me to my face on the court, ‘I didn’t see it’ or ‘It wasn’t a foul.’ It’s not making sense to me seriously!” James tweeted. “Frustrating as hell man! Anyways keep going Squad!”
Lakers Back Russell Westbrook After Botched Final Shot
Foul or not, Westbrook caught some heat for how the final 10 seconds played out. But head coach Darvin Ham was clear he didn’t mind how it played out, not calling a timeout with the speedy Westbrook matched up on Embiid.
“Down one, you’ve got one of our best playmakers to the rim, one of our best finishers at the rim, has the ball with Embiid standing in front of him. I’ll take that scenario every day of the week and twice on Sunday,” Ham said. “We just got to finish the play. That’s it. Make a harder, stronger move to the rim. That’s it. It’s as simple as that. And it just didn’t work out.”
The late miss was unfortunately what made the rounds despite an overall solid game from Westbrook. We went for 20 points on 50% shooting, adding 14 rebounds and 11 assists. He passed Detlef Schrempf for the most triple-doubles off the bench in NBA history.
LeBron Feels Lakers Are Playing ‘Good Basketball’
The loss to the Sixers was the third in a row for the Lakers, who had won five in a row prior to that. The Lakers are 19-24 this season but James is encouraged by their play, despite the losses.
“We’re playing good basketball,” James said on January 15. “We’re just not winning games.”
What has been more impressive is that the Lakers are remaining competitive despite injuries to key players. All-Star big man Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, Lonnie Walker IV and Patrick Beverley have all missed multiple games.
The Lakers have a prime spot to turn things around on Monday against the last-place Houston Rockets. Even in a back-to-back situation, a loss would be a devastating blow to the morale for LA.