Subscribe
Follow Us
The Golden State Warriors barely edged the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 1 of their playoff series,117-116, and they would have lost the contest had Ja Morant made his lay-up in the final possession of the game.
However, according to the NBA Last 2 Minute report, the Grizzlies should have never gotten that chance to win the game in the closing seconds.
When Klay Thompson missed both his free throws with just six seconds to play, both the Grizzlies and Warriors scrambled for the ball. Unfortunately, it went out of bounds with 4.8 seconds remaining and the referees had no idea who touched the ball last. It led to a jump ball that Memphis eventually won, allowing them to plan for one final play.
Article Continues Below
Nonetheless, upon further review in the L2M report, the Grizzlies touched the ball last and possession should have been given to the Warriors. Play was unreviewable at that point because a coach's challenge is the only way to get the officials look at it, per NBC Sports.
What. A. Finish. 🍿
Ja Morant misses a layup at the buzzer and the Warriors escape with a Game 1 win over the Grizzlies!pic.twitter.com/X2bcntVlai
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 1, 2022
The Warriors were a bit lucky that Ja Morant missed that lay-up he usually makes. Still, imagine how hard it would have been for the Dubs to take had they lost because of it, only for the L2M report to say they should have been given the possession at that point.
Even more frustrating for NBA fans, it's not the first time the referees made a potentially game-changing mistake in the playoffs. Hopefully, officiating gets to improve as the series progresses because it's not every time that teams get lucky to win games despite a wrong call going against them.
