The Oklahoma City Thunder had been referred to as for 3 technical fouls all season earlier than Tuesday’s NBA Cup. They obtained their second and third of the sport on one play after a no-call early within the third quarter.
Lu Dort was livid when the referees referred to as a leap ball after Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks jumped on his again in an effort to seize a free ball. After Dort drew a technical foul for complaining and the no-call, Thunder coach Marc Daigneault was additionally given a “T.”
Damian Lillard dutifully made each free throws, then the play turned actually disastrous for the Thunder. Milwaukee corralled the leap ball and Antetokounmpo discovered Lillard for a deep three-pointer.
As an alternative of getting the ball for a throw-in, OKC gave up a five-point possession to Milwaukee. The Bucks got here out with an 11-point lead, which they prolonged to 13 factors after Antetokounmpo spearheaded an 8-0 Bucks run to finish the quarter. They went on to win, 97-81.
That each one could have been totally different if the Thunder obtained that decision. It could have been the fourth private foul for the Greek Freak, who could not have been within the sport to attain 12 factors, seize 10 rebounds, block a shot and get two steals, all within the third quarter.
Antetokounmpo completed with a triple-double, headlined by 26 factors, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. Most of that harm got here within the third quarter.
As for the foul name, contact usually goes uncalled throughout a free ball scrum. It was referred to as late within the Houston Rockets’ comeback win over the Golden State Warriors within the NBA Cup quarterfinals, when a free ball foul referred to as on Jonathan Kuminga gave Jalen Inexperienced two go-ahead free throws. After the sport, Steve Kerr referred to as the foul “unconscionable.”
Nonetheless, the largest offender within the Thunder’s loss was their terrible capturing. They went 33.3 p.c from the sphere and 15.6 p.c from three-point vary. They usually cannot blame the officers for that one.
