On Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena, the Los Angeles Lakers played host to the division-rival Golden State Warriors in an important game, which would help dictate seeding in the Western Conference playoff picture.
Unfortunately, with how the regular season has gone for the Lakers and Warriors thus far, both teams will likely have to go through the Play-In Tournament to make it to the NBA playoffs, which has become an all-too-common occurrence.
With the game close down the stretch in the fourth quarter, even though the Lakers lost Anthony Davis to an eye injury 12 minutes into the game, Los Angeles had a chance to get the best of Stephen Curry and company. However, things out of the Lakers’ control started to take place on the floor, namely the shot clock going haywire, which completely changed the momentum of the game that leaning in the Lakers’ favor.
Ultimately, the Lakers lost to the Warriors, 128-121. Austin Reaves tried to make sense of what happened after the game with many reviews and a shot clock that refused to work to finish the contest.
“I mean, it’s tough, but at the end of the day, the refs got to get it right,” Reaves said. “I know it’s not them, but they can’t just let it go on with the shot clock being messed up or whatever, so I think they did a good job. It’s just an unfortunate situation. Kind of just out there standing around, and that’s really it.”
Perhaps the most controversial call of the game came when the referees reviewed a 3-pointer LeBron James had made over Curry to pull the team within four. This play was a big momentum shifter for the Lakers, but the referees reviewed the shot and determined James had stepped out of bounds.
“The game goes from a four-point game to a seven-point game in the matter of, it’s kind of like you twist back time, but you lose the time,” Reaves said. “So yeah, I mean, I didn’t understand the ruling on it or whatever it was, but yeah, I mean anytime that something like that happens, it sucks. You want to score points.”
Once the three points were removed from the score, the Lakers didn’t seem to have a chance, with the momentum gone. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the shot clock went haywire in the final stretch, resulting in multiple attempts to get the game back on track to no avail.
Ultimately, a bizarre game came to an end with the Lakers now looking like they’ve sealed their fate as the 10th seed in the West with another Play-In Tournament appearance on the horizon.
Darvin Ham discusses ‘tough’ ending for Lakers vs. Warriors
During what turned out to be a very strange ending to the matchup between the Warriors and Lakers, the momentum of the game was halted after a ton of reviews by the referees and a broken shot clock.
Head coach Darvin Ham reflected on the strange ending of the game against the Warriors, admitting it was tough to recover after the rhythm and momentum were disrupted by all the stoppages of play on Saturday night.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!