Beating one of the top teams in the Western Conference was difficult enough, but the Sacramento Kings also had to overcome the officiating crew of Josh Tiven, John Butler and Che Flores in Sunday’s win against the Houston Rockets.
The NBA admitted Monday that officials blew several key calls in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime in the Kings’ thrilling 125-124 victory over the Rockets at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The Last 2 Minute Report identified five incorrect calls. Four of them favored Houston, including a three-shot foul that allowed the Rockets to take a 124-122 lead with 10.5 seconds to play in overtime.
The Last 2 Minute Report stated that Rockets star Kevin Durant should have been called for an eight-second violation with 1:57 to play in the fourth quarter. Twenty-five seconds later, officials missed a foul committed by Kings forward Keegan Murray. They missed a traveling violation by Durant with less than 30 seconds to go in regulation.
Officials made two big mistakes in the final 1:13 of overtime. Both could have cost the Kings a hard-fought victory.
The first occurred when officials missed a three-second violation on Rockets center Alperen Sengun. Instead of being whistled for a turnover, the Rockets got a game-tying 3-pointer from Jabari Smith Jr. with 1:11 remaining.
The Kings were on the wrong side of another bad call when Westbrook was whistled for a foul on Smith’s 3-point attempt with 10.5 seconds to go in overtime. Smith made the first two free throws to put Houston up by two, setting the stage for Dennis Schroder’s game-winning 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining.