Warriors coach Steve Kerr was heated after a questionable foul call in the final seconds of Golden State's 91-90 NBA Cup quarterfinal loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, but the NBA's Last Two Minute Report offers an opposite argument.
The league ruled that officials made the right call when they whistled Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga for a foul on Rockets guard Jalen Green as the two scrambled to secure a loose ball with 3.1 seconds remaining in the game.
In its report, the NBA states "Kuminga (GSW) reaches over Green (HOU) in an attempt to get to the ball and pulls his shoulder down."
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Additionally, the NBA also stated officials made the correct non-call in not assessing a loose ball foul or personal foul on Rockets guard Fred VanVleet for making contact with Warriors wing Gary Payton II during the same play.
The report identifies two calls that officials missed as well -- a five-second violation on Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski on Golden State's game-ending inbound play, and a three-second defensive violation on Rockets forward Dillon Brooks with 1:41 left in the game.
After the Warriors' loss, which eliminated them from the NBA Cup, Kerr ripped into officials for the call on Kuminga.
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“I've never seen a loose-ball foul on a jump-ball situation 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line,” 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 going to give a guy two free throws to decide the game when people are scrambling for the ball. Just give them a timeout. Give them a timeout and let the players decide the game. That's how you officiate, especially because the game was a complete wrestling match. They didn't call anything.
“Steph Curry got hit on the elbow, plain as day, on a jump shot. Just clubbed right on the arm – no call. You've established you're just not going to call anything throughout the game. It's a physical game. You’re going call a loose-ball foul on a jump-ball situation with guys diving on the floor with the game on the line. This is a billion-dollar industry. You’ve got people's jobs on the line. I am stunned. I'm stunned.
“I give the Rockets credit. They battled back, they played great defense all night. But I feel for our guys. Our guys battled back, played their asses off and deserved to win that game – or at least have a chance for one stop at the end to finish the game. And that was taken from us by a call that I don't think an elementary school referee would have made, because that guy would have had feel and said, ‘You know what, I'm not going to decide a game on a loose ball 80 feet from the basket.’ ”
And crew chief Billy Kennedy explained the call to Pool Reporter Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle after the game at Toyota Center using far fewer words.
"The defender makes contact with the neck and shoulder area, warranting a personal foul to be called," Kennedy said.
When all was said and done, the Warriors made far too many mistakes in Wednesday's game and left the outcome in the hands of the referees. And no matter what the Last Two Minute Report -- or Kerr -- says, the loss remains a loss.
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