The lead official of the Los Angeles Lakers' controversial loss to the Boston Celtics and the NBA admitted that LeBron James was fouled by Jayson Tatum on a layup attempt that would have sealed victory for the Lakers. Instead, Los Angeles fell in overtime on Saturday night at TD Garden, 125-121.

Add it to the list of close games in which the Lakers have been on the wrong end of whistles.

As Lakers players and coaches vented on the microphone or social media, the league reportedly contacted the Lakers to acknowledge the error. Crew Chief Eric Lewis concurred in the pool report.

“There was contact. At the time, during the game, we did not see a foul. The crew missed the play.”

It's unusual for an officiating error of that magnitude to be acknowledged in the immediate aftermath of the game. However, considering that it occurred on a potential LeBron James buzzer-beater in a nationally televised showdown between the Lakers and Celtics and dominated the postgame discourse, all parties involved are better off addressing it right away rather than coldly doing so in the next day's Last Two Minute Report.

“As much as you try not to put it on the officiating, it’s becoming increasingly difficult,” said Darvin Ham. “There’s a bunch of stuff we could have did better in this game, but for the most part, we competed our behinds off, played the right way, played together, stayed aggressive, playing down, playing in the paint. And it’s unfortunate that the game ends off a play like that.

“The best player on Earth can't get a call. It's amazing. … I don't want to see another Last Two Minute Report. They can save that. It does no one any good.”

The players echoed the coach. A dejected LeBron — who has repeatedly expressed frustration with how the Lakers have been reffed, on his rim attacks and in clutch situations — had no explanation for the perceived injustices.

The Lakers have legitimate gripes about crunch-time officiating in four different contests within the last two weeks. The NBA admitted seven mistakes in their double-overtime loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 12, including a missed foul on a LeBron game-winning layup attempt at the end of OT. Three days later, Joel Embiid got away with grabbing Russell Westbrook on a last-possession drive (the league stood by that one). Two games after that, the L2M acknowledged that Kendrick Nunn was fouled by De'Aaron Fox on a 3-pointer that should have given him a chance to tie the game with about 10 seconds left.

“It’s been building,” James — who finished with 41 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in Boston — said about the mounting frustration with refs. “Because you guys seen some of the games we’ve lost this year with late-game missed calls. We had an opportunity to literally win the game. I had the second one in the last few weeks for myself — against Dallas, had an opportunity to win on a foul call. K-Nunn the other day had an opportunity to tie the game if the four-point play is called. I don’t understand.

“I don't understand what we're doing. And I watch basketball every single day. I watch these games every single game, and I don't see it happen to nobody else. It's just weird.”

“That one hurt BIG TIME!!! I don't understand,” he tweeted Saturday night. He was still at it on Sunday:

LeBron is averaging only 6.2 free throw attempts per game despite averaging the second-most field goal attempts of his career (22.8) — nearly 72% of which come around the rim, per NBA.com.

LeBron said it's “cool” if the Lakers talk to the league on his behalf, “but it ain't gonna change s–t.”

Anthony Davis bluntly stated that the Lakers “got cheated” by the “bulls–t.” (AD also disagreed with a foul on Patrick Beverley that awarded Jaylen Brown a game-tying free throw before LeBron's opportunity. Beverley received a tech for using a camera to show Lewis his error. It was hilarious.) Davis lamented that refs aren't publicly held accountable for “unacceptable” showings.

“I guarantee that if the refs started getting fined for missed calls, it would be a lot better. But nothing will be done.”

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Dennis Schroder — who received a T for reacting to a debatable whistle — and assistant coach Phil Handy aired grievances on Instagram. Schroder made a specific call for action.

“The refs gotta start getting fined for their mistakes. They also giving Technical fouls to ppl who are reacting to their mistakes. The replay center should also use replay to get these calls right especially on an important play like the OBVIOUS foul on lebron at the end of the game.”

As Dennis notes, the NBA should establish a mechanism to automatically — and swiftly — review game-deciding plays. Additionally, the league should alter the rule to allow coaches to retain successful challenges. Ham won a review with 3:41 in the fourth quarter but was unable to challenge either the foul on Beverley or the non-foul on Tatum. Afterward, Ham suggested the NBA consider that specific change and even posited the idea of adding a fourth ref.

The Lakers (23-27) admirably battled with the Celtics (36-15) in a chaotic atmosphere — the latest indication that they can hang with any team in the league when healthy. And yet, somehow I don't think that's going to alleviate the pain.

“You're still thinking about that,” Davis said about the Lakers giving up an 8-2 run to start overtime. “You're not even supposed to be in that situation, to be honest. You're not supposed to be playing overtime.”

“It’s one of the best games we’ve played all year,” LeBron said. “And for it … to fall on somebody else’s judgment or non-judgment is ridiculous.”