{"id":58282,"date":"2023-11-07T18:21:40","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T23:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=58282"},"modified":"2023-11-07T18:21:40","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T23:21:40","slug":"lakers-spotlight-poor-officiating-in-narrow-loss-to-the-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/11\/07\/lakers-spotlight-poor-officiating-in-narrow-loss-to-the-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Spotlight Poor Officiating in Narrow Loss to the Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Miami Heat Monday night, 108-107. But it wasn\u2019t <\/span>LeBron James<\/b><\/a>\u2019s 30 points or <\/span>Bam Adebayo<\/b><\/a>\u2019s triple double making the rounds on the sports news cycle. It was questionable officiating by NBA referees. The Lakers have since contacted the league office about several no-calls, adding to the frustration they expressed after the buzzer sounded.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lakers Spotlight Poor Officiating in Narrow Loss to the Heat<\/h2>\n

Background<\/b><\/h3>\n

The duel between the Lakers and Heat featured numerous no-calls, which could have impacted the game given its one-point deficit. <\/span>ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin<\/span><\/a> said that LA had concerns about officiating towards LeBron:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The Lakers shared various clips showing what they believe to be clear illegal contact by Heat defenders against James that went unnoticed by the referees. James attempted four free throws against Miami, dropping his season average to 5.7 attempts per game, which would tie a single-season career low should it persist. The four-time league MVP has drawn a foul on just 6% of his drives this season, according to Second Spectrum data, which is the eighth-lowest rate among the 34 players to record 70 or more drives thus far in 2023-24.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the missed calls occurred on a LeBron drive, where he was hit in the face by Miami big man (and ex-Laker) <\/span>Thomas Bryant<\/b><\/a>. James pointed this out, and added that the officials\u2019 actions are not consistent with their words:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went for the dunk attempt against Thomas Bryant, he clearly elbowed — like, arm straight across my face. And I asked him for the explanation — well, one of the refs said that he was straight up, hands straight in the air. Two of the refs said they were blocked and they didn’t see it\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The referees\u2019 actions (or lack thereof) were enough for Darvin Ham to warrant his first technical foul of the season. Ham had his own thoughts on how his team was officiated, telling reporters that the amount of free throws James gets compared to how many times he\u2019s attacked on drives doesn\u2019t line up: \u201c<\/span>…the amount of times he attacked the rim, the amount of times he was slapped on the arm, which I could see plain as day, for that not to be called, man … he’s not flopping.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Aside from James, Lakers point guard <\/span>D\u2019Angelo Russell<\/b><\/a> was ejected after receiving two technical fouls for contesting calls.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Pool report on D\u2019Angelo Russell's ejection from the Lakers' loss to the Heat: pic.twitter.com\/SUEu5h5NDG<\/a><\/p>\n

— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) November 7, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n