The Golden State Warriors lost to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday after a last-second foul on Moses Moody with the score tied. Saturday, they were on the wrong end of a few more calls, but held on to win,
119-116 anyway.
According to the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report, there were three incorrect or missed calls in the last minute of the Warriors’ win. With 50 seconds left, Trayce Jackson-Davis got whistled for a shooting foul on Devin Booker, who completed the layup and an and-one to bring the Suns within two points. But according to the NBA’s official review, TJD didn’t actually foul the All-Star guard. The video evidence showed Jackson-Davis “jumps vertically and absorbs the contact with Booker. When he swipes down, he avoids making contact to Booker’s arm.”
Steph Curry hit two free throws before Collin Gillespie sank a three-pointer to make it a one-point game. Then, when the Warriors inbounded the ball, Curry got hit. And then hit again. It was a highly strange moment where the referees swallowed their whistles while the Suns were actively and intentionally trying to foul Curry to stop the clock. Eventually Curry gave up and simply made a basket. Based on the Last Two Minute Report, and obvious to anyone watching who had ever seen a basketball game before, a foul should have been called when Booker “initiated illegal contact” to Curry’s arm. And also after that, but the first was officially an “Incorrect Non-Call.”
The Suns had a final chance with less than five seconds to go, and caught another break when a pass from Gillespie went off Royce O’Neale’s hands and into the backcourt, where Devin Booker illegally retrieved it. He didn’t have much chance to capitalize, missing a 40-foot heave at the buzzer.
So while the Warriors got some rough calls, they managed to overcome them to get the win. The NBA doesn’t produce a report for disputed calls earlier in the game, so we won’t know how the league felt about Jimmy Butler getting away with throwing the ball off Dillon Brooks, or if they agreed that Draymond Green’s second foul — the one for arguing, not the first one for crashing into Gillespie — was “weak.”
For the record, the Last Two Minute Report for Thursday’s game reported that all the calls at the end of the game were legitimate, including Moses Moody’s game-losing foul on Jordon Goodwin with 0.4 seconds to go, even if it did acknowledge that Moody hit the ball.
The consequences of the Last Two Minute Report are, well, nothing, and it’s not really clear why the league puts them out at the same time they fine players and coaches for complaining about officiating. But the Warriors can feel good about winning the game, and the L2M Report. Put another notch in the moral victory column!
