LeBron James is left furious after referees fail to call foul in Boston Celtics OT loss

LeBron James was furious with the referees who didn’t see Jayson Tatum hit his arm on a layup that could have given his Los Angeles Lakers a win over the Boston Celtics.

With the game tied 105-105 with just over two seconds left, James drove to the basket and missed a layup.

The Lakers star thought Tatum had clearly fouled him and reacted furiously to the decision not to call a foul.

LeBron James was furious at refs missing Jayson Tatum sliding his arm into a layup

He could have given his Los Angeles Lakers team a win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday.

James reacted furiously to the referees’ failure to call a foul at the end of regulation.

He gestured wildly, crumpling to the ground, staring in disbelief as he fell to his knees with the game heading to overtime. The Lakers lost 125-121 to the leaders of the Eastern Conference.

James’ teammate Patrick Beverley was charged with a technical foul for defying officials by grabbing a camera and calling the foul late in regulation.

Potential game-winning free throws would have been given if the foul had been called by the referees.

James’ teammate, Patrick Beverley, committed a technical foul for challenging the referees.

James was visibly upset when he gave an interview after the game, he said: ‘You saw my reaction. It’s challenging. I don’t understand. I don’t understand.

‘It’s been building, you’ve seen some of the games we’ve lost this year, late-game missed calls. We had a chance to literally win the game.

‘Second in the last few weeks for me, against Dallas I had a chance to win the game if the foul was called. I don’t understand what we’re doing.

‘I watch basketball every day. I watch these games every day. I don’t see it happening to anyone else. Is rare.’

To make matters worse, referee Eric Lewis admitted the foul was called after the Celtics sealed the win in overtime.

To make matters worse, referee Eric Lewis admitted that the foul was called after the Celtics’ overtime win.

Boston Globe reporter Adam Himmelsbach. he asked: ‘It looked like there was contact on LeBron’s drive late in regulation. Why wasn’t there a bad call there and what did you see there?’

Lewis replied: ‘There was contact. At that time, during the game, we didn’t see a foul. The crew missed the play.

James’ teammate Anthony Davis said of the incident: “It’s nonsense.” It’s unacceptable… we got cheated tonight.’

‘Favouritism is not requested, consistency is requested. The best player on the planet can’t even take a call,” added Lakers head coach Darvin Ham.

Tatum refused to be swayed by the controversial play, saying the endgame was “a blur”.