The New Orleans Pelicans just needed to inbound the ball, make their free throws and they had the game won.
But a five-second call gifted the ball to the Phoenix Suns with 7.7 seconds remaining Saturday. Up three, the Pelicans elected not to foul, and they had to watch as Josh Jackson buried a game-tying 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left.
Then, things got weirder: The Pelicans tried to call timeout, but they didn't have any, which led to a technical foul, with Devin Booker sinking the game-winning free throw.
After the game, point guard Elfrid Payton, who collected his fourth consecutive triple-double in the loss, had this to say when asked if he had ever been a part of any loss as odd as Saturday's, via Jim Eichenhofer of Pelicans.com:
“Not like this. Not one that came down to a technical foul from a timeout. I probably won't ever again, either.”
Odds are pretty good that Payton won't ever be a part of a game ending due to a technical foul from lack of timeouts, considering how exceedingly rare such a situation is.
Big man Julius Randle also chimed in on what he believes New Orleans can take away from the sting of such a crushing defeat:
“It's a big learning experience. Hopefully next time, we will be better. But you've got to go through these hardships.”
The blow is even worse considering it marks the Pelicans' sixth consecutive loss. They'll hit the road for a matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, with a full array of timeouts at their disposal.
Follow Us
Subscribe