There was a lot to process from the 125-121 Celtics win in overtime this past Saturday. Taking the road trip from New York City, we made it to TD Garden to witness one of the greatest rivalries in sports. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the Boston Celtics hosted LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in what would turn out to be a thriller – with tons of twists, turns, and a little bit of controversy.
The Lakers looked like they had a chance at stealing a win on Boston’s home turf early on, but a series of events occurred toward the final seconds of regulation. The score was tied at 105, and James had a clean look at the basket as he drove the lane for a layup. Sequentially, Tatum went in for the block, but seemingly hit Lebron’s arm, and forced a miss. No whistle was made.
“There was contact. At the time, during the game, we did not see a foul. The crew missed the play,” official reports later stated. Immediately after, Lebron threw a tantrum at the no-call. The Celtics dodged the L.
In the final seconds of regulation, Brown grabbed a rebound off a Horford miss and completed a three-point play after being fouled by Pat Bev. The score was all tied up now with just 4.1 seconds left. Kudos to Brown on making the free throw because he came up short on the line just a couple of nights earlier against the Knicks.
Overtime.
Despite LeBron James’ 41 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists, it wasn’t enough. The Celtics rallied in overtime and got the win in front of a sold-out home crowd. (It was amazing to witness that in person btw.)
As for those who are still debating about the no-call, the NBA Last 2 Minute report showed that there were two other missed calls that favored the Lakers in the closing moments. It really could have gone either way. In the remaining seconds of regulation, one of those no-calls, was a missed offensive foul on Anthony Davis, with 32 seconds left, after officials determined Davis had pushed Brown into Schroeder. No whistle was blown.
We can read all the reports, debate all day, and let our Twitter fingers go into overdrive, but all controversy aside, the Celtics won, and continue to hold the top seed in the NBA. Check out my recap from TD Garden below.
