LOS ANGELES – The final two minutes of the game clock in the Golden State Warriors' 128-121 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night took more than 20 minutes of real time to play out thanks to a series of replay reviews and shots. -clock malfunction.
The delays began with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter, with the Lakers trailing 124-120, when Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham challenged an off-field call that awarded possession to the Warriors, while the Lakers center Lakers, Jaxson Hayes, and Golden State forward, Andrew Wiggins, both went for the rebound.
As the referees reviewed the out-of-bounds call, they determined that the corner 3-pointer LeBron James hit on the previous trip down the court with 2:07 remaining did not count.
The Lakers ended up winning the challenge (Hayes and Wiggins faced off for a jump ball) but lost points in the process.
“I've never seen that before, at that particular moment,” said James, who finished with 40 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds. “That was a little strange… It took away some of our momentum.”
The ruling was eerily similar to one from a December game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, in which a late 3-pointer by James that would have tied the score was downgraded to a 3-pointer after review. Just like that night, James disagreed with Saturday's call.
“Obviously I didn't think I stepped over the line,” James said Saturday. “I knew how much space I had there. And when I shoot, I shoot on my toes, so it's a little hard for me to have my heel on the ground.”
Team manager David Guthrie explained the ruling in a postgame statement to a team reporter.
“James' left foot is out of bounds when he starts shooting,” Guthrie said. “Yes, it is reviewable at that time. The rule is Rule 13, Section II(f)(3): If the shooter committed a boundary line violation, the replay center official will only observe the position of the shooter's feet. player at the “At the moment they touch the ground immediately before the shot is taken. This can also be applied during other replay activations.”
While the blown 3-pointer helped his team, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he would prefer to live without the miss.
“I also don't like the rule that you can go back and look at an out of bounds, or LeBron's 3-pointer,” Kerr said. “That seems to happen once or twice a year. I'd love for that rule to go away. I think we're trying too hard to get everything right, at the expense of flow. I mean, who cares if a kid's foot is half an inch on the line? Is it worth going back 45 seconds and changing everything, with the unintended consequences? Not my favorite rule, for sure.”
James, however, defended the spirit of the replay rules.
“At the end of the day, you just want to do well,” James said. “So, it's unfortunate what happened. But obviously you have to try to do it right. And our team has a job to do, which is the referees, they have a job to do, and they have to do it to the best of their ability. So, all good.”
With the score back to 124-117 after James' three-pointer was disallowed, Wiggins gained the jump and passed it to Draymond Green, who attempted to corral the ball near the baseline.
While James was penalized for the heel of his shoe allegedly touching the out-of-bounds sideline, the Lakers believed the toe of Green's shoe did the same on the baseline with 1:48 remaining. So Ham took advantage of another coach's challenge.
After another review, the referees declared Green out of bounds and LA was given possession back. The Lakers inbounded the ball, but the referees quickly blew their whistles and noticed that the shot clock was not working properly. After the referees conferred with the scoreboard operators at center court, LA was given the ball again and, once again, the shot clock failed after the Lakers shot it.
The false start occurred four times in a row, drawing increasingly louder boos with each delay. The ABC broadcast even showed actor-director Ben Affleck, sitting courtside with Jennifer Lopez, slumped in his chair, unable to hide his impatience. ABC cameras also caught James shaking his head and laughing at the prolonged pause in the action when he said, “I'm too old for this s—.”
Finally, Crypto.com Arena public address announcer Lawrence Tanter informed the crowd that he would be counting down the shot clock over the arena speakers in order to resume play.
After all that, Los Angeles got the ball and James was stripped of the ball by Warriors star Stephen Curry (31 points), leading to an alley-oop dunk by Jonathan Kuminga (23 points) and putting Golden State up 126-117 with 1: 07 left.
“It was strange,” Kerr said. “It seems like a few times a year you have clock issues. That's as extreme as I've ever been a part of where the backup unit doesn't work either. It's unfortunate. I felt bad for the fans. That was a great game, and then during the last two minutes, everyone is looking at each other wondering what to do.
Several Lakers players pointed out that the shot clock had a problem during a Warriors possession with 10:53 left in the fourth quarter, when the countdown from 10 to 9 was reset to 24 and the game continued, with Trayce Jackson- Davis ending the possession by hitting a hook shot with 10:38 to put Golden State up 104-96.
“They didn't take points because the clock didn't work,” Ham said. “They continued to play. But it is what it is.”
That sequence also appeared in the group's postgame report.
“The shot clock failed during the live game at that time, and that is not a reviewable matter,” Guthrie said in a statement, adding that it was the responsibility of the officiating team to notice the discrepancy at the time, and they did not. .
Los Angeles entered the night with a one-game lead over Golden State at No. 9 in the Western Conference standings. Saturday's result changed the teams' position, with the Lakers now in 10th place with 14 games remaining.
“It's going to take everything to get some wins,” said Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell (23 points, 13 assists). “This time of year, everyone matters.”
ESPN's Ramona Shelburne contributed to this report.
