Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Damian Lillard was not pleased that the referees blew a call late in the game.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Nicoll.)
Damian Lillard is normally an even-keeled player (well, outside of all-star snubs in the past but I get why he would have a cow over that, too). He was NOT happy about this no-call. You see the scoreboard and you see the situation below on this embedded tweet. Check the vid:
The goaltending on Damian Lillard’s shot is crystal clear! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/dQgjf7bDnf
— ClutchPoints NBA (@ClutchPointsNBA) February 8, 2020
I defend the officials pretty much all the time. But even my dog KNOWS that this is golatending. And this is what she looks like!
So you know she can see everything. THAT is a goaltend.
But the Blazers couldn’t challenge because they had no timeouts and there was no review because nothing was called. Wait. What?
Let’s go back to NBA.Com for the rules!
It says nothing about NO-CALLS being reviewed. Why? Especially since it was SO obvious? By the way, you know what “no-calls” get reviewed? Three-pointers. Refs usually check if the player’s feet are behind the line. Those get reviewed all the time. So why not questionable goaltending? I mean, it’s just common sense.
This was way more egregious than the James Harden dunk that was ruled a miss. At least, the Rockets had a cushion and 8 minutes left to EASILY overcome that. The Blazers were down by two and the game would’ve been tied with about 12 seconds left. Instead, they were still down two with three seconds less. Three seconds is A LOT OF TIME in the NBA.
The Blazers did get one final shot after Austin Croshere’s clone (Bojan Bogdanovic) split his free throws but Caleb Swanigan, the one with two career three-pointers in his third season, missed a desperate corner three. Lillard, who scored 42 points in the game, was beside himself and I don’t blame him. He even ranted on social media. (Check out the sentence that I boxed.)
Dame is ready to get fined. He’ll be okay; he’s a rich dude.
But again, I can’t blame Lillard.
Seriously, though, why do we even have restrictions on reviews and challenges? If it’s plain as day that there’s an obvious goaltending or whatever violation, just review it. Especially in a close game with little time left. I mean, they take their time on most other calls, anyway. What’s one more call?
And yes, other than transparency, what is an L2M (LAST TWO MINUTES) report going to do? It’s still going to be a loss for the Blazers. It’s still going to be a win for the Jazz, who had their 5-game skid stopped. Unless the Blazers protest it, which the Rockets tried after the James Harden dunk debacle. It would be a logistical nightmare if the Blazers protest and are successful with that (they don’t play in Utah anymore this season). Even the Jazz players think the Blazers got a raw deal.
This comes a day after the referees somehow missed Steve Clifford calling timeout as the Magic lost by two against the Knicks. It has not been a good couple of days for the NBA referees.
I can’t defend the refs on those missteps. Oh, well.
Bullet Passes
Who can stop the Raptors these days? 13 straight wins. They’re probably not going to catch the Bucks but they got a 1.5 game cushion over Boston.
So the Magic have been spiraling lately. The Wizards win (more on THAT later) puts them three games behind Orlando. It’s so sad that a team who is on pace for 29 wins has a chance at the postseason. That burns.
That Dallas loss (more on THAT later, I said) combined with the Oklahoma City win puts them in 7th. The Thunder have risen to 6th and are a game behind the Rockets, whose small ball got squashed by the Suns.
This is sublime.
Same arena. Same basket. Same dunk. 19 years apart. 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/fj7HRmqv3c
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 8, 2020
Like I said, the Suns squashed the Rockets. You can see the scoreboard right below. Also, the Suns outrebounded Houston by 22.
The Scoreboard
MEM 107 (26-26) @ PHI 119 (32-21)
DAL 118 (31-21) @ WAS 119 (18-32)
ATL 107 (14-39) @ BOS 112 (36-15)
TOR 115 (38-14) @ IND 106 (31-21)
DET 101 (19-35) @ OKC 108 (32-20)
HOU 91 (33-19) @ PHX 127 (21-31)
MIA 97 (34-17) @ SAC 105 (20-31)
POR 114 (24-29) @ UTA 117 (33-18)
Watch This Play
Bradley Beal gets away from the Mavs and sinks the game-winning lay-up.
(VIDEO CREDIT: ClutchPoints.)
Great misdirection by Davis Bertans, excellent picks by Mo Wagner, and credit to Troy Brown, Jr. for a difficult pass to a streaking Beal. Fantastic play.
GG.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.
For the rest of the season, I will sign off with GG, which usually means “Good Game.” But we also know “Gigi” is Gianna Bryant’s nickname. This will be my tribute to her.