The Los Angeles Lakers are currently the 13th seed in the Western Conference. The 17-time NBA champions currently have an underwhelming record of 23-27 following their most recent defeat against the Boston Celtics.
Although the game was thrilling, most Los Angeles Lakers fans believe that their team was cheated out of this game. After all, there was a clear foul on LeBron James by Jayson Tatum during the final possession of the fourth quarter. However, the referees didn’t call it, and the game went to overtime, where the Celtics won the game.
It was a frustrating defeat for LeBron and the Lakers, but this is not the first time the organization has been in a similar situation this season. In fact, the Lakers have been the victim of poor refereeing three times this season.
The Lakers would be the 6th seed if the three blatant ref errors didn’t happen (vs the 76ers, Mavs & Celtics).
Instead, they’re 13th in the West. pic.twitter.com/AqRd3EY5l1
— Basketball Forever (@bballforever_) January 30, 2023
As pointed out in the above-attached tweets, the Lakers would have had a 26-24 record if the refs didn’t mess up on three different occasions this season and would sit comfortably as the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
The first mistake came against the Dallas Mavericks, with the game all tied at 108-108 in overtime. James was fouled while attempting the game-winning layup, but the referees ignored it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMYDR9YElww
The second instance was against the highly-talented Philadelphia 76ers. This time around, it was Russell Westbrook in a 1-on-1 final possession against Joel Embiid. While Westbrook missed the game-winning shot, he was fouled by Embiid, and the refs once again didn’t side with the Lakers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-ZygRIS9OY
Finally, this brings us to the Lakers’ most recent defeat against the Boston Celtics, and Jayson Tatum visibly fouled LeBron James during the final possession of the regulation time. But once again, referees didn’t give a foul call in favor of the Lakers, and it left LeBron furious.
These three missed calls could have helped the Los Angeles Lakers turn around their season. Moreover, the Lakers would not only have been the sixth seed, but they would also be just 1 game behind the fifth seed and 2 games behind the fourth seed. But is it too late for the Lakers to still do that? Certainly not.
The Los Angeles Lakers Can Still Advance To The Playoffs
Winning the NBA Championship is undoubtedly the primary goal for the Lakers this season. But being completely realistic, they need to advance to the postseason before thinking about winning the title.
As of now, the Lakers have 32 games left to be played. If they can string together a 10-game winning streak, it would help the team in getting back on track to advancing to the postseason after missing out on doing so last season.
But will poor refereeing decisions once again destroy the organization’s hopes of doing so? That remains one of the biggest questions.
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