Last Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors took the court in a game that looked to be one for the ages. Clutch plays were made and everyone was on the edge of their seats.
That was, until the first of two lengthy reviews happened.
With just under two minutes left in the fourth quarter with the Warriors up 124-120, the ball went out of bounds. The referees initially gave possession to the Warriors but the Lakers challenged the ruling. Simultaneously, the referees were reviewing the previously made basket from Lakers forward LeBron James to see if his made three-point shot was going to count.
The Lakers ended up gaining possession of the ball but James’ basket did not count as the officials concluded that his left foot was out of bounds during the shot. This made the Warriors lead increase back to seven points. Following the game, the Crew chief, David Guthrie, explained that the review for the shot was decided during the first stoppage in play.
This was not the only point of frustration during the game. With one minute and 35 seconds remaining in regulation, the shot clock malfunctioned. The Lakers attempted four inbound passes before the officials blew the whistle once they saw the problem. The delay lasted 10 minutes with fans expressing their frustration by booing. Once the delay ended, the referees determined that the PA announcer would announce the time left on the shot clock in five second intervals.
While the Warriors ended up winning the game 128-121, all anyone is talking about from the game was the bizarre officiating in the final two minutes. Had James made three-pointer not been reviewed simultaneously with a controversial call, the game could have gone down to a final shot or overtime. However, the lengthy delays with both the reviews and shot clock malfunctions took away the momentum both teams had and resulted in an anticlimactic ending.
NBA referees have been getting blamed for a lot of controversial calls over the past few seasons. Everything from inconsistent fouls to sporadic technical fouls have left fans wondering why officiating has become a problem. However, what happened on Saturday was like none other where both the officiating and equipment malfunctioned. This was a bad look for the NBA and they will need to address these issues quickly before more people begin to question the alleged lack of accountability the league holds their officials to.
