After Saturday's heartbreaking (and controversial) loss to the Celtics , the Lakers announced more disappointing news for the LA franchise. LeBron James and Anthony Davis will not be available for Monday night's matchup at home against the Brooklyn Nets.
The silver lining is that the reason for the Lakers star duo sitting out Monday's game is rest and not injury-related. Los Angeles has a back to back matchup on Tuesday, so are likely resting their stars for their nationally broadcast game against the Knicks at home.
LeBron: the hunt for Kareem's record
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record sits at: 38,387. LeBron James has 38,271. As of today, the difference between both is 116 points.
Potential record-breaker: At his current rate of 30.2 points per game, with 117 points needed to pass Abdul-Jabbar, it would take James four more games to become the NBA's scoring leader. The Lakers say James will not play at Brooklyn on Monday. Assuming he does not miss any more games, he would be on pace to break the record Feb. 7 at home against Oklahoma City.
The Referees' Union: "Our mistake will cause sleepless nights"
The National Basketball Referees Association said Sunday that LeBron James was fouled on the last play of regulation in the Los Angeles Lakers' game against the Boston Celtics.
The NBA office also confirmed for the second time that a foul should have been called.
"Like everyone else, referees make mistakes," the union wrote in its tweet. "We made one at the end of last night's game and that is gut-wrenching for us. This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights as we strive to be the best referees we can be."
James got the ball about 35 feet from the basket, with 4.1 seconds remaining in what was a tied game at Boston on Saturday night. He split two defenders as he got into the lane, then went airborne and got past Jayson Tatum as well.
James laid the ball up with his left hand, Tatum clearly made contact with James' shooting arm, no foul was called and the game went to overtime. Had a foul been called, James would have gone to the free-throw line with an opportunity to put the Lakers ahead with 1.8 seconds remaining.
The Celtics wound up winning the game in overtime, 125-121
