NBA News Wire
Call upheld in Thunder-Clippers game
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
The NBA backed the call made by the officials late in the Oklahoma City Thunder-Los Angeles Clippers playoff game on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.
NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn announced Wednesday that the referees did not have clear and conducive evidence after viewing replay to overturn the out-of-bounds ruling that went in favor of the Thunder.
Oklahoma City went on to post a 105-104 victory that left Clippers coach Doc Rivers fuming. The Thunder took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference series.
The Clippers protested that Thunder guard Reggie Jackson knocked the ball out of bounds with 11.3 seconds left. The officials awarded the ball to Oklahoma City and then stuck with their initial ruling after reviewing replay.
“With 11.3 seconds left in the game, the basketball went out of bounds on the baseline and the referees ruled the ball belonged to the Thunder,” Thorn said in a statement. “The referees then used instant replay to review the play. In order to reverse the call made on the court, there has to be ‘clear and conclusive’ evidence. Since no replay provided such evidence, the play correctly stood as called with the Thunder retaining possession.”
Rivers protested the pivotal call to no avail.
“It was our ball,” Rivers said after the game. “Everybody knows it was our ball. The bottom line is they thought it was a foul and they made up for it. In my opinion, let’s take away the replay system. Because that’s our ball, we win the game. We got robbed because of that call.”
