The Los Angeles Lakers are furious after an obvious foul on LeBron James' potential game-winner was missed, with the Boston Celtics going on to secure a 125-121 victory in overtime.
Playing in Boston, James was spectacular with a game-high 41 points on 15-of-30 shooting, adding nine rebounds and eight assists, but the game was tied at 105-105 after Jaylen Brown's and-one with four seconds remaining.
The four-time MVP and four-time NBA Finals MVP would be the player entrusted with the last shot for the Lakers, and after driving left and getting all the way to the rim, James was smacked on his shooting arm by Jayson Tatum with under one second on the clock.
But the foul went un-whistled, with James, All-NBA team-mate Anthony Davis and the entire Lakers bench erupting in fury as the game was sent to overtime.
Los Angeles guard Patrick Beverley was issued a technical foul after bringing over a camera to the referee in an effort to show crew chief Eric Lewis the clearly botched call, and the Celtics went on to score 20 in the extra period, led by Brown with 11 of his 37 total points.
Speaking after the loss, Davis made it clear he felt cheated by the referees.
"It was bull**** at the end of the day," he said. "It’s unacceptable, and I guarantee nothing will happen to the ref. We got cheated tonight, honestly.
"[Beverley] got all ball on Brown, [but they] called a foul. LeBron, they smack across his arm. Unacceptable, to be honest. The refs were bad – they were bad tonight."
James echoed those sentiments, saying this is not the first time this season he has felt disrespected by officials.
"You saw my reaction… it’s challenging," he said. "I don’t get it.
"I'm attacking the paint just as much as any other guy in this league that’s shooting double-digit free throws a night. I don’t get it. I don’t understand it."
He added: "You guys seen some of the games we lost this year, with late-game missed calls. I don’t understand what we're doing.
"I watch basketball every single day. I watch these games every single game, and I don’t see it happen to nobody else. It's just weird."
Head coach Darvin Ham joined the chorus of discontent.
"The best player on Earth can’t get a call – it’s amazing," he said. "You have to call a cat a cat, you can’t look at something and try to pretend it’s not what it is.
"He’s a guy that tries hard to play the right way. Doesn’t flop, plays downhill, plays a strong, physical brand of basketball.
"Just because he doesn’t flop or doesn’t flail and he’s not screaming when he’s shooting the ball like I see a ton of other players doing, he gets penalised for it.
"As much as you try not to put it on officiating, it’s becoming increasingly difficult. I don't want to see another Last 2 Minute report – they can save that. It doesn't do no one any good."
In an Instagram story, where he included a still photo of the foul, Lakers guard Dennis Schroder also voiced his frustration.
He wrote: "The refs gotta start getting fined for their mistakes! They also giving technical fouls to people who are reacting to their mistakes.
"The replay center should also use replay to get these calls right, especially on an important play like the OBVIOUS foul on LeBron at the end of the game.
"This needs to stop… to lose 3-5 games this season off of referees' mistakes is really hard."
In an uncommon occurrence, crew chief Lewis confirmed the botched call immediately after the game finished.
"There was contact," he said. "At the time, during the game, we did not see a foul. The crew missed the play."
The loss has the Lakers fall to 23-27, sitting 13th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference.
Kerr demands improvements from Team USA as Olympic opener looms
United States coach Steve Kerr wants to see higher levels of intensity from his team as their Olympics campaign approaches.
Kerr was unhappy with the lacklustre displays from his side in their warm-ups against Germany and South Sudan.
Germany led 71-68 at the end of the third quarter before LeBron James conjured up 11 points in the final four minutes to give the USA a 92-88 win, while South Sudan were 20 seconds away from pulling off one of the biggest shocks in basketball history, before eventually falling to a 101-100 loss.
The USA face a dangerous Serbia side featuring reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on Sunday, and Kerr is adamant that improvements are required if they are to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
He said: "It's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.
“We have another level. I think we have another two levels that we can get to, but it's a collaboration, always.
"We can show them, 'Let's do this, let's do that. Let's learn personnel.'
"We got to know the shooters, know the non-shooters, all that stuff. So that's where we can help them. Where they can help themselves is just effort and energy play after play, after play. This is different."
Kerr is a four-time NBA champion as a coach, and was part of the triumphant Olympics team in Tokyo in 2021, but the Golden State Warriors boss knows the experience of the Games will only be enhanced if the USA were to come out on top again.
"This should be one of the great experiences of our lives. But the best way to make it an incredible experience is to win a gold medal," he said.
After facing Serbia, the USA will once again go up against South Sudan, this time in a competitive format, before ending the group stage with a match against Puerto Rico.
Durant warns Team USA 'everybody is a contender' in Olympic basketball tournament
Kevin Durant has warned Team USA they will not have an easy ride through the basketball tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, declaring: "Everybody is a contender".
The United States will go in search of a fifth straight men's basketball gold in the French capital, where they open their Group C campaign against Serbia on Sunday.
After that meeting with Nikola Jokic and company, the star-studded USA team featuring Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and a host of other NBA stars take on South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
With Steve Kerr having so much talent at his disposal, the roster has been compared to that of the 1992 'Dream Team', who took gold in Barcelona behind the efforts of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen and other great names.
However, at a press conference ahead of Team USA's 2024 opener, Curry reminded reporters that the class of 1992 only faced nine other active NBA players.
Durant is expecting a much tougher assignment this year, responding to Curry by saying: "Everybody is a contender. Everyone is here for a reason.
"We're playing against 65 or 64 NBA players in Paris. So you know they're the best in the world."
Asked to identify the main players to watch from other nations, the Phoenix Suns forward said: "Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or Jokic."
While Durant adopted a cautious tone, Golden State Warriors star Curry was more bullish regarding the USA's gold medal hopes.
Quizzed on who he was most excited about facing, Curry simply said: "Whoever's in the gold medal game."
Knicks, head coach Thibodeau agree to three-year contract extension
The New York Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau have agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season.
New York went 50-32 last season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the semi-finals of the play-offs.
The Knicks were also ousted in the East semis in 2022-23 and reached the play-offs during Thibodeau’s first season in 2021-22, when he won his second NBA Coach of the Year award.
Prior to 2021-22, New York’s previous post-season appearance came in 2013.
The Knicks have gone 175-143 over the last four seasons under Thibodeau, who earned his first NBA Coach of the Year award in 2011 as a rookie head coach with the Chicago Bulls.
The 66-year-old Thibodeau owns a 527-389 record in 12 seasons as a head coach with Chicago, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York.
His teams have gone 38-47 in the post-season, and Thibodeau’s only appearance in the conference finals came in his rookie head coach season.
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