Lakers Beat Suns To Make In-Season Tournament Semifinal After Controversial Timeout In Final Seconds 

The NBA quarterfinal games for the league’s inaugural in-season tournament have been nothing short of amazing. The new contest has shown how competitive and fiery NBA players can be early on in the season. 

In last night’s game to secure the last semifinal spot, LeBron James led the Lakers to a 106-103 win over the Phoenix Suns. With 31 points, eight boards, and 11 assists, James rose to the occasion to guarantee his team’s ticket to Vegas to face off against the New Orleans Pelicans. 

Despite the electrifying performances of both teams’ superstars, the game seemingly came down to a controversial call by the referees.

With 11 seconds to go in the game, the Los Angeles Lakers inbounded the basketball to Austin Reaves, who got tied up with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Reaves then fell over and lost the ball, and as it rolled toward the baseline, James called a timeout, which was awarded. 

Suns got robbed. pic.twitter.com/xo42MHfYCg

— zy (@zygocrazy2x) December 6, 2023

Anthony Davis made one free throw, and D Book shared the ball with Kevin Durant for a three-pointer right before the buzzer that was off.

It was a disappointing end to a solid game. 

“It’s a loose ball, and you can’t call a timeout on a loose ball,” Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said. “The whistle blows. I don’t know why. Everything in the league is reviewable. I don’t know why that can’t be reviewable. …We got the trap, we got the turnover, [and the] damn whistle blows. It’s just frustrating.”

“The whole world seen it. I just got off social media, and other players around the league saw it. Refs miss calls sometimes, but when it’s a bit that obvious, it’s tough,” Booker said after the game during his media availability. 

Former legend and Phoenix Suns great Charles Barkley also spoke out about the controversial call, as he implied favoritism on behalf of the Lakers. 

🏀 Did LeBron call for timeout before the loose ball? The Suns could have tied the game with a layup here.

Shaq, Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller all agree this was a bad call.

Lakers win 106-103 and advance to Final 4.
LeBron drops 31 pts (12-25 FG), 11 ast, 8 Reb , and 5 stl pic.twitter.com/jDhbJdGxYE

— SportsHighlights (@SportsContent) December 6, 2023

All eight teams received compensation of some sort, but the two big rewards were for the teams that play in the championship game. If you make it to the championship game on Saturday, the losing team per player receives $200K. The winners will receive 500K and the bragging rights of being the first-season champions.