The Phoenix Suns were left furious by a controversial call from the officials that saw them get knocked out of the NBA‘s in-season tournament on Wednesday night.
The Los Angeles Lakers were up by two points with just 11.2 seconds left when Austin Reaves took the ball under pressure from Suns guard Devin Booker.
Reaves appeared to lose possession, only for LeBron James to then call for a timeout with 7.4 seconds on the clock – which was granted by the officials.
Suns coaches and players were furious at the call as they believed Reaves had lost the ball and LeBron’s timeout should not have been allowed.
During the break in play, they protested the call with head coach Frank Vogel particularly animated.
When play resumed, Anthony Davis scored one of two free-throw attempts before the Lakers held on for a three-point win.
The victory means they have now qualified for the in-season tournament’s semi-finals in Las Vegas. Every player on the tournament’s winning team will win $500,000 in prize money.
Speaking after the game Josh Tiven, the head of the three-man officiating crew, stood by their decision.
‘During live play, the official felt that LA still had possession of the ball when LeBron James requested the timeout,’ he said.
‘Through postgame video review in slow motion replay, we did see that Austin Reaves had his left hand on the ball while it’s pinned against his left leg, which does constitute control.’
But Vogel dismissed that and said it ‘wasn’t a good’ explanation and the decision they reached was ‘extremely disappointing’.
He commented: ‘Everything in the league is reviewable. I don’t know why that can’t be reviewed.
‘I know it’s not a foul or an out of bounds, which is, like, a challenge.
‘But at any point in the game, if the whistle blows, inadvertently, the refs can huddle up and say, ‘Inadvertent whistle, where are we at during the game?’ That did not happen. So, extremely disappointing.’
Booker added: ‘We’re not asking for favoritism, just a fair chance.’
But his teammate Kevin Durant insisted it wasn’t a game-changing call and the Suns only had themselves to blame.
However, Durant refuted the argument that this allowed the Lakers to win.
He said: ‘That’s not the ballgame. That’s one play. It’s a 48-minute game.
‘I don’t like to complain about calls. Sometimes the ref ain’t gonna get it right.
‘Sometimes it’s on us to play through all that stuff and not worry about putting the game in the ref’s hands.’