I don’t know how many tough losses the Lakers have to endure but this one might rank up there.

Lakers vs Celtics II went to overtime just like their first match-up on December 13th. In the end, it’ll officially go down as a Celtics win, 125-121.

It’s easy to get upset about the officials. Since I’m already talking about it, here’s the last play of regulation.

Here’s a screenshot for more. Yeah, it was a foul. But sometimes, refs miss those calls, even if it’s that obvious and egregious. The officials have a tough job. Still, when they miss, they miss badly. And this was one of those cases.

Also, we’ve seen LeBron complain plenty of times but I have never seen him this animated. He literally got down on his knees after his grievances went unheard.

Patrick Beverley was also not pleased with the call that he went to the referee and tried to show him through a camera. Beverley immediately got called for a tech to start overtime.

From there, Jaylen Brown went to work. He scored 11 points in overtime as the Lakers seemingly couldn’t recover from the missed call at the end of regulation. What was bizarre was their play at the end of the game. Dennis Schröder made a lay-up with 26.4 seconds left to cut the deficit to 121-118. And then they took forever to foul a Celtic. Malcolm Brogdon made two foul shots with 11.8 seconds left to boost the lead to five.

The Lakers still had a timeout in their pocket to advance the ball. But they didn’t. In fact, there was no sense of urgency as Anthony Davis made a three with 2.1 ticks left. They still played the foul game but there was too little time left. Celtics escaped with a four-point win.

It’s such a weird time for the Lakers to concede because they certainly weren’t conceding anything in the first 4:34 of overtime. Either way, it’s going to go down as another loss and all the Lakers and the fan base will talk about is the non-call at the end of regulation. Such a shame because while it was an ugly game for the most part, it was still a close game throughout.

Both teams combined for 8 for 40 (.200) from three in the first half. They also had 8 ties and 10 lead changes. But it wasn’t pretty basketball by any means. The Lakers would boost the lead to 11 in a rare good stretch in the third quarter. But Jayson Tatum got hot and scored 15 points in that period. Still, a nice pass from Anthony Davis to a streaking Rui Hachimura towards the goal tied the game before they entered the fourth.

The last minute was the good and bad of Patrick Beverley. In fact, maybe best in one case. Beverley made a clutch three to put the Lakers up, 102-100, with 51.7 seconds left. After two free throws were made by Malcolm Brogdon, Lakers had a chance to take the lead. Anthony Davis missed a three then this happened…

Beverley rarely dunks as is so to see a clutch putback jam from him was like seeing Rihanna walk in front of me. Are you kidding me?

After a quick miss by Boston, Beverley was fouled. Then he split his two foul shots so the Celtics still had a chance to tie. Al Horford missed a corner three that looked atrocious but Jaylen Brown was able to get it and lay it in. A late whistle happened and Beverley was called for a foul (it was the right call but the whistle was just late). Then it led us to the controversial non-call. Which, by the way, has been deemed by the officials a “blown call.”

I don’t know what else to say. It’s a tough loss by the Lakers. And, yeah, stuff happens. I’m not going to say that the Lakers lost because of that call. Russell Westbrook needed to be better (4 for 14; 12 points, 7 assists). There were times where the Lakers just stood around and hoped LeBron would do something. Schröder missed all five of his threes. Beverley missed a late free throw. That game was not lost on that call, however frustrating it may be.

LeBron James continues to be incredible; he ended with 41-9-8. I didn’t hear about Anthony Davis having any playing time restrictions before the game but I guess that’s out the window since he played 34 minutes. He also started the second half. Davis ended with 16 points and 10 boards. Lonnie Walker IV also returned; he had a short stint but scored 13 points.

Jaylen Brown countered LeBron with 37 points; again, he was huge in overtime. Jayson Tatum didn’t shoot well (8/25, .320) but still had 30 points and 11 rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon was a fantastic scorer off the bench with 26 points.

Anyway, I’m sure we’ll talk about the missed foul call ad nauseum for the next 12-24 hours. But for now, the Lakers have to shake this off and go to New York to have a back-to-back. First up would be the Brooklyn Nets on Monday. Then they get the Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

You win some, you lose some. On Saturday night, the 23-27 Lakers lost some.