Following a crucial last-second refereeing blunder that cost the Los Angeles Lakers against the Boston Celtics, the NBA referees’ official Twitter account issued an apology for the “gut-wrenching” error.
With less than five seconds left in the game with the score knotted at 105-105, LeBron James attempted to win it for the Lakers when Jayson Tatum whacked him on his shooting arm at the rim.
Before the Celtics won a 125-121 victory in overtime, the four-time MVP and four-time NBA Finals MVP would miss with his attempted drive.
“Like everyone else, referees make mistakes. We made one at the end of last night’s game and that is gut-wrenching for us,” the official account wrote.
“This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be.”
Final Count pic.twitter.com/RUpjGbKbLr
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 29, 2023
The apology may prove little consolation for James, whose 41 points on Saturday in Boston proved in vain.
Defeat saw the Lakers fall to 23-27, sitting 13th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference ahead of four road games in the coming week.
Los Angeles will look to bounce back at the Brooklyn Nets on Monday without James and Davis after the Lakers confirmed the pair would be absent on the first night of their back-to-back.