Officials missed two key calls down the stretch of Wednesday’s Nets-Wizards thriller, giving each team a possession they did not deserve in the fourth quarter.
After officials missed a Kyrie Irving shot attempt grazing the rim and ruling a turnover on a 24 second violation that should not have been, the Wizards lost possession in bizarre fashion when Nets assistant David Vanterpool deflected a pass intended for Washington’s Kyle Kuzma near the Nets bench. Officials thought that the pass was either fumbled by Kuzma or deflected by Kessler Edwards, allowing the Nets to steal – but replays showed that Vanterpool reached out and touched the ball in mid-air.
A Nets assistant coach was caught playing defense 😅 pic.twitter.com/Zd8OPcAIBY
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 20, 2022
The Wizards were irate that officials didn’t catch the infraction, but play continued and the Nets went on to win by a single point.
After the game, Kuzma argued that Steve Nash was blocking the official’s view of the play, and said that coaches shouldn’t be able to stand up on the sidelines.
Kyle Kuzma sounds off on Nets assistant coach David Vanterpool interfering with a ball in play (which the referees didn't call):
"That was also horses–t too. Coaches should not be able to stand up…you've got Steve Nash blocking the ref's view. He can't see s–t" pic.twitter.com/a2o507u0A4
— Nets Videos (@SNYNets) January 20, 2022
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