The Houston Rockets snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Golden State Warriors in thrilling and controversial fashion on Wednesday night with a 91-90 victory in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. With the win, the Rockets advanced to Las Vegas and will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals.
After trailing by six with less than 90 seconds to play, the Rockets closed on a 7-0 run and went ahead for good on a pair of free throws by Jalen Green with 3.5 seconds left. In the lead up to Green’s free throws, there was a chaotic sequence that left the Warriors questioning the officials.
According to the league’s Last Two Minute Report, however, the refs got it right. Let’s take a look back at the madness.
After Alperen Sengun cut the deficit to one with a layup with 27.2 seconds to go, the Rockets decided to play defense instead of fouling. The Warriors ran the clock down, though perhaps not as far as you may have expected. Steph Curry launched a step-back 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining on the shot clock that was wide right.
In the ensuing scramble for the loose ball, Gary Payton II dove on it, and then Fred VanVleet dove on top of him. Payton then tried to roll the ball over to Jonathan Kuminga, but Green read the situation and hit the deck himself. Kuminga and Green converged, and Kuminga was ultimately called for a foul, which sent Green to the line for the game-winning free throws for Houston.
The Warriors were incensed.
“I’ve never seen a loose ball foul in a jump ball situation 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I’ve never seen that. I think I saw it in college one time 30 years ago. Never seen it in the NBA. That is unconscionable. I don’t even understand what just happened. Loose ball, diving on the floor 80 feet from the basket and you’re gonna give a guy two free throws to decide a game when people are scrambling for the ball? Give them a timeout and let the players decide the game.”
Despite Kerr’s objections, the Last Two Minute Report stated that “Kuminga (GSW) reaches over Green (HOU) in an attempt to get to the ball and pulls his shoulder down.”
And as for the tussle between Payton and VanVleet, the NBA’s report called it incidental contact. In fact, the only call the league said the officials missed in the closing seconds was what should have been a five-second violation on Brandin Podziemski on the Warriors’ final possession.
The league’s conclusion won’t do anything to convince Kerr, who fundamentally disagreed with the call.
“I’m pissed off. I wanted to go to Las Vegas,” Kerr said. “We wanted to win this Cup. We aren’t going because of a loose ball foul 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. That was ridiculous.
“The game was a complete wrestling match. They didn’t call anything. You’ve established you’re not going to call anything throughout the game. It’s a physical game and you’re gonna call a loose ball foul in a jump ball situation with guys diving on the floor with the game on the line? This is a billion-dollar industry. You got peoples’ jobs on the line. I am stunned.”
