The Los Angeles Lakers had their hearts broken again on Sunday when they came up just a bit short against the Philadelphia 76ers, 113-112.
Russell Westbrook had a chance to win it at the end, but his shot attempt was rejected by Sixers forward Georges Niang. Head coach Darvin Ham chose to not call a timeout prior to Westbrook’s failed shot attempt. Afterward, the guard claimed that Philly center Joel Embiid held his arm prior to his shot attempt and should’ve been called for a foul.
This came on the heels of a gut-wrenching double-overtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday. The next day, the NBA admitted it missed a foul call at the end of the first extra session that would’ve put LeBron James on the free throw line with a chance to win the game.
Across Twitter, fans reacted to the final play on Sunday.
Rigged against the Lakers. @NBA gotta investigate @NBAOfficial! https://t.co/G1iLvSsigY
— 💜 Lakers, PLZ DON'T TRADE 💙 (@LeShoTime) January 16, 2023
Darvin come on is this how you’re thinking as a Head Coach You may have one of ur best playmakers going to the rim BUT he’s not ur best playmaker or best finisher going to the Rim Should’ve called TimeOut to get ball in LeBron or Schroeder’s hands @Lakers that was Poor Coaching
— Lady Gale Canada (@itsladygcanada) January 16, 2023
I mean, if you grab someone's arm and hold it, that's a foul. If your argument is that it's not a foul in the final seconds, then teams should just start hacking away.
I didn't like Russ's decision to drive twice but he did indeed get held.
— Dan Besbris (@DanBesbris) January 16, 2023
The refs man…. Always killin the lakers
— Grogu Burner (@satch_franco) January 16, 2023
Hey @Lakers…. @KingJames told y'all he not going to lose like this. He about winning and making the right decisions. This was the worst loss of the season. When you have a TO left you use it…so the ball can be in Lebron's hands.
— CashNPicks (@CashNPicks) January 16, 2023
i haven’t seen a LeBron James led team fail to close out so many regular season games as many times as the Lakers have done during his tenure.
— NIBAS (@LAKESHOW_SHRES) January 16, 2023
We Lakers! We going to get the seeding. Many people have lost their faith due to the harsh losses but let’s not forget that when we are whole again the league will have to watch out! Oh and I didn’t even mention if we get a good trade our chances increase significantly
— Carlos Garcia (@kingcharlez7) January 16, 2023
