Sports

Referees Swallow Their Whistle On Last Lakers Possession As Nuggets Win Series

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Getty Image / Matthew Stockman


The Denver Nuggets-Los Angeles Lakers series was absolutely sensational. The Nuggets winning the series 4-1 does not do how entertaining and competitive their Western Conference Playoffs first-round series was.

The Nuggets finished the Lakers off in a classic Game 5 that ended with a Jamal Murray game-winner with 3.6 seconds left. But, much of the talk after the game is based around the fact that the referees appeared to swallow their whistle on the Lakers’ final possession.

The Lakers were out of timeouts due to an illogical NBA rule that still charges a team a timeout after they win a challenge. Los Angeles Coach Darvin Ham successfully challenged a crucial foul call with three minutes remaining in regulation. But, it was their last timeout.

So, after Jamal Murray scored this bucket, the Lakers couldn’t advance the ball and had to settle for a half-court shot to win.

But, did you see what I saw on that clip? Isn’t this a clear blocking foul against Nikola Jokić?

Jokic is definitely not in legal guarding position, and this should’ve been two foul shots for LeBron James, as the Lakers were in the penalty. James had just made two clutch foul shots with 26.8 remaining to tie the game.  Maybe he makes them, maybe he doesn’t. But, I think the Lakers deserved a chance for LeBron to shoot those two foul shots and the fans deserved a chance to try to watch him make them.

Even if they don’t want to call that foul, this is another clear-cut foul on Taurean Prince’s desperation heave.

Yes, refs don’t like to call fouls on these kinds of shots. But, by the book, this is a foul at any other point in the game. If that’s a shot at the end of the 3rd quarter, I think the block on Jokic gets called and the shooting foul on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

I probably sound like a Lakers fan, and I’m far from that. And, credit to the Nuggets the best player in the world in Nikola Jokić, and the ultra-clutch Jamal Murray who hit two game-winning shots in this series. They should be the favorites to repeat as champions, and they’re a joy to watch.

But, the evidence, in my opinion, points to the Lakers having a real gripe with the officiating on that final possession. It’s not like the fix was in for the Nuggets or anything, but we should all wonder why plays that are fouls for the first 47:55 of a game suddenly are not in the final:05.