The refs (didn’t) blow it again!
The Sacramento Kings on the final leg of their four-game road trip saw them facing off against the Golden State Warriors. Once again, the defense for Sacramento was nowhere to be found, as the team would go on to give 55 points in the first half. However, the offense was firing right out of the gate.
De’Aaron Fox continued his All-Star level play, finishing the night with 28 points and 6 assists while only turning the ball over twice. Domantas Sabonis was tarrying up the Warriors on the board, finishing with 14 rebounds to go along with his 19 points and 6 assists. Malik Monk has really started to find his role coming off the bench for the Kings, as he would finish with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
The shots were falling for the Kings as they were going head-to-head with the reigning champs. Stephen Curry put on a show for his home crowd and would finish the game with 47 points to go along with some clutch baskets in the fourth quarter. Through an up-and-down battle, going basket-for-basket, Sacramento found themselves in a situation where it came down to one shot to tie the game and send it into overtime.
Fox would initiate the inbound with 1.6 left on the clock. Coach Mike Brown would run an OTA play that would put the ball in Kevin Huerter’s hands to launch the game-tying basket. Klay Thompson played extremely tight on Kings’ guard and it was pretty obvious to everyone that he made enough contact that would make for a CLEAR AS DAY WHISTLE!
LMFAO https://t.co/UcCCzentwk
— De’Aaron Fox (@swipathefox) November 8, 2022
The play clearly shows Klay Thompson pushing on the back of Huerter prior to the inbound and still making contact on his back in order to recover after Kevin made space. Then as the shot is going up, Thompson clearly is smacking Huerter’s arm.
Mike Brown had this to say after the game:
“I just want, at the end of the game, somebody to step up and make the right call. A guy gets hit on the arm shooting a three, it’s a foul. A guy take six steps or four steps, it’s a travel. We just want an opportunity to win in overtime.”
The frustration was once again there for coach Brown and it will be another two-minute report that will describe how the Kings should have been sent to the free throw line to possibly tie the game and send it to overtime.
While it’s nice to hear an “I told you so” from that two-minute report, the fact remains that the Kings are now 3-6 on the season, going 2-2 on their road trip with both losses being some real tough pills to swallow. Sacramento now heads home to face off against a very strong Cleveland Cavaliers team. Hopefully while they’re on their home floor, the ref’s whistle can be heard when there’s a clear call to be made.