In its “Last Two Minute Report” issued Tuesday, the NBA league office acknowledged two blown calls in the final two minutes of Monday’s home loss by the Houston Rockets. Both went in favor of defenders on the Oklahoma City Thunder, who went on to win the game, 112-107.
The mistakes happened with 1:48 and 1:19 left in the fourth quarter, each with the Rockets holding a 105-104 lead at the time. In both instances, the league’s view is that the Thunder fouled Houston star James Harden without being called for it, leading to a pair of undeserved turnovers.
Regarding the first mistake at 1:48, the league writes:
Luguentz Dort is late to the spot and makes contact with Harden, which affects his SQBR [speed, quickness, balance, rhythm] on his drive to the basket. Harden braces for the oncoming contact and does not extends his arm to deliver contact.
Harden was incorrectly given an offensive foul on the play. Had the officials gotten the call right as a blocking foul, it would not have resulted in free throws for Harden, since Oklahoma City still had a foul to give.
However, it still would have been Houston basketball, giving them an opportunity to expand their narrow lead.
The second mistake at 1:19 appeared to be much more impactful to the game’s final result. Of that error, the league writes:
Dennis Schroder is beat to the spot and turns his body into Harden and makes contact to his arm, which affects his ability to maintain control of the ball.
Not only did this call shortchange Houston on offense, but the turnover on a loose ball led to a transition runout for the Thunder, who took a one-point lead courtesy of a virtually uncontested layup.
Harden was visibly upset on the court with the lack of a whistle.
The league didn’t clarify whether the foul, if given to Schroder, was a shooting foul — which would have sent Harden to the line for free throws. If it was a non-shooting foul, the Thunder still had one to give, meaning Houston would retain possession without free throws.
However, had the earlier call at 1:49 been made correctly, the Thunder would not have had a foul to give — and Harden would have gone to the free throw line for two shots, regardless of whether the latter call was ruled in the act of shooting or not.
Ultimately, the second blown call swung what was then a one-point game by at least two points given Oklahoma City’s transition layup, and possibly by more than that depending on what might have happened for Harden and the Rockets on offense after the foul.
All other calls in the game’s last two minutes were judged to be correct.
In any event, the NBA’s acknowledgment of the errors doesn’t change the game’s outcome, which gave the Rockets (26-16) their fourth consecutive loss and the team’s longest losing streak of the 2019-20 season.
Harden and his team will look to turn that around when they return to the court Wednesday night to host the Denver Nuggets (30-13). Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Central from Toyota Center in downtown Houston.
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