When the NBA acknowledged that referees blew three calls in the final two minutes of the Clippers' 100-99 loss to the Thunder on Monday, Doc Rivers said he wished NBA coaches could challenge calls with under two minutes to play, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"I’m a big believer in it," Rivers said before Clippers practice Wednesday. "If we had a coach’s challenge the last two minutes of that game, we win the game."
The three missed calls, in this case, all came with a minute or less to go in what would become the one-point loss for L.A.
It started, the league said, when officials missed calling a foul on Oklahoma City shooting guard Dion Waiters for grabbing J.J. Redick's jersey before he attempted a three-pointer. Later, a foul should have been called on Russell Westbrook for making contact with Chris Paul's leg. Then, the league said, an illegal screen on Thunder forward Serge Ibaka was missed.
"I really believe that we have to make a change there," Rivers said. "Those non-calls or calls or whatever you want to call them, lost the game for us. Literally. We have to come up with something."
Rivers, who joked that he'd love to have a red bean bag to throw, proposed a plan in which coaches would be able to challenge calls in the final two minutes of games — if the coach lost the challenge, he'd lose a timeout. But if the coach was right, he'd get to keep his challenge.
"On all three, you see me complaining about it," Rivers said. "That’s where they say, ‘You’re complaining.’ Sometimes as a coach, I think that’s your job. I got yelled at by our official in the first half about complaining about the charge I was right on. I don’t know what you’re supposed to do as a coach, don’t say anything or say something. I don’t think anyone is trying to make mistakes or anything like that; it’s a hard game to ref."