Referees missed a series of significant calls during the final 90 seconds of the Golden State Warriors’ Play-in Tournament win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night, the NBA shared Wednesday in its Last Two Minute Report.
The Warriors went on to win 121-116, propelling them to a showdown with the Houston Rockets in the opening round of the playoffs. The Grizzlies can still make the postseason if they beat the Dallas Mavericks at home Friday.
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But for Grizzlies fans, the sting of Tuesday night’s loss could linger. In the NBA’s report from the game’s closing stretch, the league said officials improperly handed over possessions, misidentified fouls and allowed points that should never have counted in Memphis’ loss.
Among the most significant errors was a missed foul on Golden State’s Draymond Green, who should have earned a sixth and exited the game with 1:29 left, the league said, after making contact with Memphis’ Scotty Pippen Jr. The report stated Green made “illegal contact with Pippen Jr.’s wrist after his gather,” but officials didn’t blow the whistle. Green earned that ejection about 30 seconds later, however, and finished the game on the sideline.
The possession Green fouled Pippen on ended with the Memphis guard stumbling, then tossing up a shot that hit the rim before teammate Zach Edey tipped it in, making the score 114-111.
But those two points shouldn’t have counted, according to the assessment. Edey touched the ball while it was in the “imaginary cylinder above the rim,” and the referees should have called him for offensive goaltending.
Just under a minute later, with Memphis trailing by four, Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski leapt for a block against Pippen, drawing a whistle blew as Podziemski received a foul despite making contact with the ball. That sent Pippen to the line for two free throws, of which he made one. The league later called the contact “incidental.”
Finally, with only one point separating the teams and just under 10 seconds remaining, Ja Morant poked the ball out of bounds while Steph Curry was dribbling by him. The referees awarded possession to the Warriors, but according to the report, the ball last hit Curry and Memphis should have taken control with seven seconds left.
Memphis may enter Friday night’s game against the Mavericks with a hobbled superstar after Morant hurt his ankle in the third quarter. He returned and finished out the loss to the Warriors, but a Memphis win last night would have given him until Sunday to recuperate. Dallas is coming off a decisive 120-106 win that dashed the Sacramento Kings’ playoff hopes.
The Warriors will face the Houston Rockets in the first round beginning Sunday night in Houston.
(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
