It took exactly one game in the 2025-26 NBA season for officials to be at the center of a controversy.
With the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder facing off in the season opener, the two Western Conference powers battled into overtime. As the first extra period neared the end, the teams found themselves deadlocked once again.
Before time expired, a controversy arose.
Here is what happened next and why it will be the subject of controversy, even though the Thunder pulled out a 125-124 win.
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Rockets-Thunder overtime ending, explained
With under 10 seconds remaining in overtime, Rockets big man Alperen Sengun tied the game up with a putback dunk. The Thunder got the ball back with 8.8 seconds remaining, and everyone at Paycom Center knew the ball would go to reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Houston forward Tari Eason forced Gilgeous-Alexander into a tough miss, allowing Kevin Durant to corral the carom and signal for a timeout.
The problem? The Rockets had no timeouts remaining.
Kevin Durant called for a timeout, but Houston had none, and the refs didn’t see it.
WOW — DOUBLE OVERTIME.
pic.twitter.com/Acb4p0kzFl
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 22, 2025
Typically, when a team that has no timeouts remaining signals for a timeout, they are whistled for a technical foul. In this case, officials did not award Durant with a timeout, and, in turn, a technical foul was not called.
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Had a technical foul been called, the Thunder would have shot a technical free throw and gotten the ball. A made free throw would have effectively ended the game and secured OKC's first win of the season.
Instead, there was no technical foul call, and time expired, triggering double overtime.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, along with the capacity crowd in Oklahoma City, was incensed at the non-call, as it extended the game when Oklahoma City should have had an opportunity to end things after one overtime.
The referees' decision not to award the Rockets the timeout meant Durant avoided a Chris Webber moment, as the Hall of Famer infamously tried to call for a timeout in the 1993 national championship game, resulting in a technical foul and two free throws for the eventual national champion North Carolina Tar Heels.
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