Lakers head coach JJ Redick can feel a little vindicated that he was indeed right that the refs got the call wrong when Jaden McDaniels wasn’t called for a foul after Luka Dončić tripped over the Timberwolves player late in Sunday’s Game 4 loss.
In its Last 2-Minute Report, the NBA acknowledged that the call had been missed and that the officials should have made a call in that particular instance.
“McDaniels (MIN) steps forward into Doncic’s (LAL) path, initiating illegal foot contact that causes him to lose his balance,” the NBA wrote in the report.
The Lakers’ star had been trying to move the ball over half-court when he made contact with McDaniels’ foot and lost his balance.
The play occurred with a little more than 30 seconds left in the game, and the Lakers were down by just one.
Los Angeles did get a timeout, but they ended up turning over the ball and the game ended shortly after in a 116-113 loss.
Following the game, Redick was furious over the call and adamant that Dončić had been tripped while trying to advance the ball.
“Luka got tripped. That was a blatant trip. He doesn’t just fall on his own. We watched and he gets tripped. We should have been at the free-throw line, that’s not an excuse for why we lost, but he got fouled,” Redick said.
It’s the second missed call by an NBA official in a big moment in as many days, after crew chief David Guthrie admitted that a foul should have been called on Josh Hart when he made contact with Tim Hardaway Jr. on his buzzer-beater, which had it gone in would have won the game for the Pistons.
“During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play,” Guthrie said. “After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called.”
