LeBron James and the Lakers have not gotten an accurate whistle down the stretch in a handful of games this season. That trend burned them again Saturday night in a brutal 125-121 overtime loss against the Celtics in Boston. With the score tied 105-105, the Lakers had a frontcourt sideline out of bounds with 4.1 seconds to play in regulation. LeBron curled around the top for the inbound pass and continued directly downhill, getting all the way to the rim for a game-winning layup attempt. 

We have seen NBA players pick up technical fouls for taunting. We've seen them get technicals for cursing, for obscene gestures and for making unnecessary contact with an official. On one hilarious occasion, we even saw Tim Duncan get T'd up for laughing. But never in the history of the NBA have we seen a technical foul quite like the one Eric Lewis hit Patrick Beverley with at the end of regulation of Saturday's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.

Lonzo Ball's knee situation continues to look grim. The Chicago Bulls guard hasn't played since Jan. 14 of last season, when he was originally diagnosed with a seemingly innocuous knee bruise. After evaluation, it was determined Ball had a torn meniscus, for which he underwent surgery. He was expected back in six to eight weeks. 

Philadelphia 76ers star guard James Harden decided to try a new form of defense late in the third quarter of the contest between the Sixers and Denver Nuggets on Saturday afternoon. 

The NBA MVP race has tended to follow a certain track over the past few seasons. In 2021, LeBron James was the early favorite, but Joel Embiid emerged in the middle of the season as a prime candidate as James faded. In 2022, the same thing happened, but with Stephen Curry as the early front-runner. The 2022-23 season started with Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum as the Vegas darlings, but yet again, Embiid has barged his way into the proceedings.

PHILADELPHIA -- Fresh off of dominating reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets to the tune of 47 points, 18 rebounds and five assists in Philadelphia's 126-119 comeback victory on Saturday afternoon, 76ers center Joel Embiid expressed his feelings regarding not being voted as a starter for the All-Star game this season. 

Chris Paul led the Phoenix Suns to within two wins of the NBA championship in 2021, but things haven't gone as planned since. Phoenix suffered an embarrassing second-round Game 7 home loss at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks last season. Now they're hovering around .500 with Paul posting career-lows in scoring (13.7 points per game) as well as most value metrics. Phoenix acquired Paul hoping for an immediate push. Two years later, his window appears to be closing.

The Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies battled Wednesday in the latest chapter of one of the NBA's growing rivalries, but Stephen Curry wasn't allowed to take part in the final 74 seconds of the nail-biting win due to one of the more bizarre ejections you'll ever see. 

Anthony Davis gave Los Angeles Lakers fans quite a scare at the end of the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night. The All-Star big man, returning to the lineup for the first time since Dec. 16, fell to the floor and grabbed at his ankle seemingly in pain in a scene that has sadly grown all too familiar to Laker fans, but he quickly got up, sank three free throws and remained in the game. Darvin Ham even joked that he nearly passed out seeing Davis on the ground, but in the end, it was all smiles after Davis' return to the lineup following a five-week absence.

The NBA has made a slight tweak to its annual All-Star Draft. In past years, the draft has come weeks before the All-Star Game, allowing players and fans to know who was playing for which team well in advance. That's going to change this season. The league announced on TNT Tuesday that this season, the draft will be held live at 7:30 p.m. ET,  just ahead of tipoff of the Feb. 19 All-Star Game.