The Golden State Warriors lost their NBA Cup game to the Denver Nuggets 119-115 on Tuesday night, and head coach Steve Kerr wasn’t happy with how it ended. When he spoke to the media after the loss, he was upset by a crucial missed call in the final moments of the game.
Kerr thinks officials missed Nuggets guard Christian Braun calling a timeout after diving to recover a loose ball in the final five seconds of the game. A player calling a timeout isn’t normally a big deal unless your team is out of a timeout — and the Nuggets were out of TO when Braun made the move with his hands.
Kerr saw this (as did a number of players) and frantically began yelling and waving at the referees, calling for a technical foul, which is the punishment when a player attempts to take a timeout that his team doesn’t. That would have given the Warriors a free throw and possession of the ball, which could have been a game-changer as they trailed 119-115 at the time. But instead of a technical, the refs called a jump ball with just 1.9 seconds left, and the 4th quarter ended with no further points scored.
After the match, the first question asked of Kerr was about that crucial non-call by the referees.
“Braun called a timeout. He dove to the floor, he turned around,” Kerr said. “Everyone saw it except the three guys we hire to do the games, and it makes me angry. It’s a technical foul. They don’t have a timeout anymore. We shoot a free throw, we get the ball back, we have a chance to win the game.
“They (the officials) all told me they didn’t see it. … It’s up to the referees to see it. That’s why we have three. Someone has to see it . So yeah, it made me crazy.”
Crew chief Tyler Ford told a pool reporter after the game that it wasn’t entirely clear what Braun was doing, which is why he called a jump ball instead of evaluating the Nuggets as a technical foul.
“Christian Braun never fully or clearly signaled a timeout,” Ford said via ESPN. “Therefore, a waiting period was not recognized.”
Not surprisingly, Braun said he didn’t call a timeout, although he admitted it might have looked like he did.
“It might have looked like it. I was fumbling the ball on the ground a little bit,” Braun said. “My hands moved, but the refs didn’t call it.”
The game had been close throughout, but the Warriors had managed to take a 10-point lead with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets were able to erase this deficit and secure the victory with a score of 23-9 in these last seven minutes.
A win would have meant the Warriors could have stayed home next week and hosted the Dallas Mavericks for the NBA Cup quarterfinals. Instead, they pack their bags and head to Texas to play the Houston Rockets.
