The Golden State Warriors had a six-point lead over the Houston Rockets with 1:30 left in regulation during their quarterfinals matchup in the NBA Cup on Wednesday night. The Rockets stormed back to win the game, 91-90, thanks to a controversial loose ball foul on the Warriors in the final seconds that allowed Houston to take the lead.
With Golden State up one with about 10 seconds left, Stephen Curry missed a three-pointer. Teammate Gary Payton II dove on the floor for the loose ball and tried to pass the ball. Rockets guard Jalen Green dove on the floor to recover it, and Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga dove to tie him up. The refs called a foul on Kuminga, and because Golden State was over the foul limit, Houston got two free throws. Green sank them both to give Houston the win, and punch their ticket to Las Vegas for the semifinals of the NBA Cup.
Kerr called the foul call “unconscionable” and said “I don’t even understand what just happened. Watch his full comments here:
“A loose ball situation, 80 feet from the basket, with the game on the line, I’ve never seen that.” Kerr said after the loss.
Watch the play here:
It felt like a highly questionable call in the moment. Why wouldn’t the refs just give Houston a timeout and let the Rockets get one more possession to try to win the game? The fact that this was a low-scoring rock fight all night makes the foul call even more questionable.
The Rockets now face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the West finals of the NBA Cup on Saturday. The winner faces the winner of the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Atlanta Hawks matchup in the East.
