The Warriors came away with a win in Game 5 Wednesday night after defeating the Rockets 104-99. But things may have been a lot closer at the end had the refs taken a moment to review a critical play.
With about 15 seconds remaining in regulation, the Warriors went down to their side of the court. Klay Thompson gets pushed to the sideline, where he's in trouble, surrounded by James Harden and Chris Paul. He gets the ball out, however, which leads to a mad scramble.
In the end, Thompson breaks free and makes a layup with 4.1 seconds remaining, giving the Warriors a five-point lead.
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But what if Thompson didn't get the ball off legally?
An alternate angle of the play shows Thompson coming extremely close to having his foot out of bounds before he tosses the ball to his teammates. We slowed down the footage, but it's still difficult to tell exactly when his foot came down vs. when the ball was out of his hands.
None of the players were asked about this after the game, but it could be an issue that comes up in the NBA's Last Two Minute report on the game.
This was also a very critical missed call if Thompson's foot was indeed out of bounds. His foot would have been out around 10.5 seconds, which means the Rockets would have gotten the ball back with plenty of time to attempt a 3-pointer to tie the game. In a critical Game 5, this is a series-changing call potentially.
UPDATE: The official Twitter account of the NBA referees made a statement on the play. For starters, they made it clear the play is not reviewable "as only called out of bounds violations trigger a replay review during the last two minutes of regulation or overtime."
But even if it was reviewable, the play wouldn't have been overturned.
After looking at numerous camera angles, there is nothing clear and conclusive to show the ball on Thompson’s fingertips while his foot is out of bounds. This play is viewed as inconclusive and unable to be determined with the naked eye, and thus handled correctly in the game. 1/ https://t.co/cB6XqgdM29
— NBA Referees (@OfficialNBARefs) May 9, 2019
While it's not a surprise to see the refs defend their guys, they do have a solid point here. It's incredibly difficult to tell through replay whether or not the ball left Thompson's hands before he landed out of bounds. And it's practically impossible for the refs to tell in real time.
