The Houston Rockets dropped a drama-filled game to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers coming out of the All-Star break Thursday night.
The early part of the game was defined by this blatant dirty foul by Rockets guard Chris Paul on James.
But as the affair headed into its stretch run, a charge call against James Harden pretty much decided the outcome of the game.
You can judge for yourself whether this was a charge against Harden or a blocking foul on James.
LeBron draws a charge on James Harden in crunch time of a 6-point game to foul him out. pic.twitter.com/LrhV6Gy7P3
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 22, 2019
This represented Harden’s sixth foul of the game. As music blared “Hit the Road Jack,” signifying Harden’s premature exit from the game, Los Angeles came out on top by the score of 111-106 in a tremendous comeback effort.
Following the game, both Paul and Harden put controversial NBA official Scott Foster on absolute blast.
Chris Paul on his relationship with referee Scott Foster: “I don’t know what else to do – I’ve met with the league with him before. I don’t know what else to do.”
James Harden: “For sure it’s personal, for sure.”
Harden says Foster shouldn’t officiate Rockets games anymore.— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) February 22, 2019
There’s certainly some justification for these comments. After all, the Rockets are not the only team who have an issue with how Foster calls games.
This is just the latest example of star NBA players coming out against the officiating we’ve seen thus far throughout the 2018-19 season. Foster will continue to be at the center of it. That’s for sure.