The Golden State Warriors lost their NBA Cup game against the Denver Nuggets 119-115 on Tuesday night, and head coach Steve Kerr was not happy with the way it ended. When he spoke to the media after the loss, he was upset about a crucial missed call in the final moments of the game.
Kerr believes the referees didn’t see Nuggets guard Christian Braun call a timeout after he dove for a rebound in the final five seconds of the game. A player calling a timeout is usually no big deal unless his team is out of timeouts, and the Nuggets were out of TO when Braun made the move with his hands.
Kerr saw it (as did several players) and frantically began yelling and waving at the referees, calling for a technical foul, which is the punishment when a player tries to take a timeout that his team doesn’t have. It would have given the Warriors a free throw and possession of the ball, which could have changed the game when they trailed 119-115 at the time. But instead of a technical, the referees called a jump ball with just 1.9 seconds left on the clock, and the fourth quarter ended with no more points scored.
After the match, the first question Kerr was asked was about that crucial lack of decision by the referees.
“Braun called a timeout. He dropped to the ground and turned around,” Kerr said. “Everyone saw it except the three guys we hired to do the games, and that makes me angry. That’s a technical foul. They have no timeout left. We shoot a free throw, we get the ball, we have a chance to win the game.
“They (the referees) told me they didn’t see it… It’s up to the referees to see it. That’s why we have three. Someone has to see it. So yeah, that made me angry.”
Team manager Tyler Ford told a pool reporter after the game that it wasn’t entirely clear what Braun was doing, which is why he called a jump ball instead of calling the Nuggets a technical foul.
“Christian Braun never completely or clearly indicated a timeout,” Ford said via ESPN. “Therefore, the timeout was not recognized.”
Not surprisingly, Braun said he didn’t call a timeout, although he admitted it may have seemed like he did.
“It might have looked like it. He was fumbling the ball a little bit on the ground,” Braun said. “My hands moved, but the referees didn’t call it.”
The game was close throughout the game, but the Warriors managed to take a 10-point lead with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets managed to erase that deficit and secure the victory thanks to a 23-9 run in those final seven minutes.
A win would have meant the Warriors could have stayed home next week and hosted the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Cup quarterfinals. Instead, they are packing their bags and heading to Texas to play the Houston Rockets.