Fans have a way of finding people or things to blame when their favorite team loses. In the case of the Los Angeles Lakers, the fans had plenty of reasons to riot after they saw the team lose to the Dallas Mavericks in a wild double-overtime game.
Los Angeles had a couple of opportunities to close things out, but Luka Doncic came up clutch with shots from beyond the arc to give Dallas the hard-earned win.
The end of regulation was a controversial one as Troy Brown Jr. had a chance to win the game for the Lakers with a 3-pointer, but Tim Hardaway Jr. blocked his shot. Upon further review, it looked like Hardaway fouled Brown although nothing was called. Brown believes he should’ve received a foul and a chance to win the game at the line.
“I thought so, but obviously I don’t get paid to ref,” Brown said. “Obviously they’re gonna make mistakes. When I saw it, he wasn’t really looking at the contact of it. He was looking more at the ball. So it is what it is. That’s not my job to ref and I’m not gonna sit here and decide who should’ve did what. They didn’t call it and we went into OT so it is what it is.”
While Brown was magnanimous about the no-call, LeBron James was adamant there was a foul, interrupting the locker room interview by yeling in the background: “No, it’s a f—ing foul. It’s a foul. No matter what TB says, it’s a foul.”
The forward continued on discussing the play and seemed to come to terms with the result. “At the end of the day for me, like I said, I stand on that, I’m not deciding or taking or anything like that, but at the end of the day, like I said, they’re human, I thought there was contact. They didn’t call it, it is what it is. It’s not my job to ref.”
That was in response to the referee’s comments postgame where he maintained there was no foul:
Per pool report, referee Josh Tiven says the non-call at the end of regulation of Lakers-Mavs was the correct call. pic.twitter.com/66vO3VgTAw
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) January 13, 2023
The loss to the Mavericks is the kind the Lakers will look back on and regret if they somehow miss the playoffs. The standings are so tight right now that any game is a must-win, so this one will particularly sting if things don’t break their way.
Troy Brown Jr. admits to wanting final shot against Mavericks
After Doncic nailed a game-tying 3-pointer, the Lakers were still in good position to win the game. Knowing Dallas was going to force the ball out of James’ hands, Brown knew he would have an opportunity to shoot and he was ready for the moment.
“Personally, I wanted the shot. I saw they were trying to double team Bron and I was on the wing. I knew I had enough time to get it up so when the ball came to me, I was excited. I was ready to shoot it and I was ready to knock it down and obviously the play happened the way it happened. But it is what it is.”
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