Saturday was pure disappointment for the Golden State Warriors. Their five-game winning streak ran into a Quentin Grimes-shaped wall, with the Dubs losing to the lowly Philadelphia 76ers. It was a game that certainly justified the recent trade for Jimmy Butler III, as Butler was sidelined for the game due to back spasms, and the team looked nothing like what we’d been watching in recent weeks.
It was also a game that took quite a long time to conclude. There were plenty of whistles and controversial calls in the final minutes, including a pair of replay reviews triggered by coach’s challenges.
But how accurate were those calls, and how warranted was the controversy? As they do for every close game, the league rolled out a Last 2 Minute Report for the game, in which they combed through the final minutes of action to review all the calls and non-calls. =
Not surprisingly, a few mistakes were found. With just under a minute left and the Sixers up three, Grimes missed a free throw. There was a scramble for the rebound, with the ball ultimately going out of bounds. Though it seemed to clearly have gone off of Paul George, the refs ruled it Philly’s ball. Golden State was out of challenges, having unsuccessfully challenged the very call that led to Grimes’ free throws.
Upon further review, the refs admitted to getting that out-of-bounds called incorrectly, stating:
Possession is awarded to the 76ers. George (PHI) is the last player to touch the ball before it goes out of bounds. Possession should have been awarded to the Warriors.
That issue was compounded when, a few seconds later, the ball again when out of bounds and was awarded to the wrong team, this time the Warriors. But the 76ers had a challenge and successfully used it, retaining possession.
While the out-of-bounds play was the most glaring mistake, there was another moment that the refs flagged. Around the 30-second mark, with the Sixers up five, a Steph Curry missed three led to a pin-balling loose ball, that eventually went out of bounds off of Philly. But while that call was correctly made, upon further review the refs realized that there was an incorrect non-call, and that Draymond Green should have been whistled for fouling Tyrese Maxey on the loose ball. Here’s the explanation:
Green (GSW) initiates contact with Maxey’s (PHI) arm prior to making contact with the ball, or the part of Maxey’s hand that is on the ball, and the contact causes Maxey to lose possession.
It ended up being inconsequential, as the Warriors turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds when Gui Santos failed to establish himself on the court after inbounding the ball and having it passed back to him.
You can read the full Last 2 Minute Report here.
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