The Celtics clinched a crucial 125-121 victory in overtime over the Lakers at Boston’s TD Garden on Saturday night, but the story of the game was the missed foul call on LeBron James when he drove to the basket at the end of regulation.
James, who finished with a game-high 41 points, came to the brink at the end of regulation and appeared to have been fouled by Celtics star Jayson Tatum. Officers chose not to make the call, and James and his teammates were outraged.
In Sunday’s episode, the verified NBA officials’ Twitter account admitted an error in a viral tweet that included a still shot of the blown call.
“Referees, like everyone else, make mistakes,” the tweet said. “We did one at the end of the game last night and it’s heartbreaking for us. This game will be heavy and will cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be.”
James and Anthony Davis took the umpires to task in the aftermath, insisting the officials miss the call. While officials admitted their mistake on Sunday, it will still go down in the losing column for the Lakers, who are fighting for playoff spot as Davis and James lost time through injury throughout the season.
NBA fans were not amused by the league’s reaction.
The Lakers travel to Brooklyn on Monday night to play the Nets.