The referees forgot to do their job at the end of Lakers-Rockets

As the Lakers were looking to complete their comeback against the Rockets on Sunday, the referees just forgot to do their jobs late in the game.

The Lakers nearly pulled off an incredible comeback against the Rockets on Sunday. After trailing by as many as 22 points, the Lakers climbed all the way back into the game and, with under 10 seconds left, had a chance to tie the game down three points.

Unbeknownst to them, the officials had decided to stop working at that point.

The Lakers took a timeout after a missed free throw by Alperen Sengun to advance the ball. Even still, they had a timeout, which is important to note.

On the ensuing in-bound, the Lakers struggled to get anyone open and LeBron can be seen calling a timeout. The officials did not give it to him and Christie’s pass to LeBron was intercepted by Fred Van Vleet, who was fouled by LeBron.

It was a split-second moment, so you could kind of grant the officials some leeway if you really wanted. But it’s also a situation where the officials have to know the Lakers have a timeout, they know they’re getting close to a five-second call and they should anticipate them calling a timeout.

However, no ref was looking at LeBron on the play, which was especially convenient for the Rockets, who also looked to be fouling him on the play, too!

Van Vleet would go down court and split his free throws to make it a four-point game, effectively ending the night. The officials did get the last laugh as, on the Lakers final in-bound, they called Anthony Davis for a foul on a screen attempt for LeBron, who hit the 3-pointer before it was waved off.

Ultimately, the Lakers have no one to blame but themselves for the loss. They fell behind big in the first half and couldn’t get a defensive rebound far too often throughout the game.

Even Redick pointed to the offensive rebounding by the Rockets as the reason for the loss on Sunday.

But still, the officials just missing multiple things on one of the most crucial plays of the game is a tough pill to swallow.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.