Tag: jersey rule

Thunder look to get back in win column against Towns-less Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns is out due to illness as both Oklahoma City and the Timberwolves look to bounce back from big losses over the weekend.

Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves are coming off substantial losses over the weekend.

While the Thunder dropped a 125-110 game at home to a Lakers team that didn’t have LeBron or Anthony Davis, the Timberwolves fell by 30 on the road at Houston.

Though they each lost the last game they played, the two teams are trending in the opposite direction. Oklahoma City has been one of the hottest teams over the past five weeks and since beating the Timberwolves in overtime on December 6, the Thunder have gone 14-5 with wins streaks of four and five games.

The Wolves, on the other hand, went 2-12 in the month of December, struggling to find their way without Karl-Anthony Towns who has been sidelined with a knee injury.

The New Year has been slightly more kind to Minnesota, they’re 3-3 in games played in 2020.

However, the Timberwolves will still be without Towns on Monday. According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Towns’ absence against the Thunder is due to illness and not injury.

The last time these two got together it resulted in “Jersey-gate” when Chris Paul pointed out Jordan Bell’s untucked jersey as Bell was checking into the game in the final seconds.

That led a technical foul, a court-length pass, and buzzer-beater that allowed Oklahoma City to go on to beat the Timberwolves in OT.

Paul was then assessed two delay-of-game violations related to his uniform in OKC’s next game on Dec. 9 against the Trail Blazers.

Ref tells Knicks guard to ‘thank Chris Paul’ for delay of game call

Elfrid Payton was whistled for a delay of game penalty for having an untucked jersey in the Knicks game against Denver.

Turns out, Chris Paul isn’t the only one refs “got” for not tucking in a jersey.

During New York’s game against the Nuggets on Sunday night, Knicks guard Elfrid Payton was whistled for a delay of game for tucking in his jersey as he was entering the game.

When the whistle blew, Payton looked at the ref with his hands in the air.

The courtside mics picked up the ref telling Payton, “y’all thank Chris Paul for that”.

Paul has raised the level of scrutiny on proper attire for players when entering a game since he called out Jordan Bell for coming into the Thunder’s game against Minnesota with an untucked jersey back on December 7.

What followed was a wild sequence of events that included a made technical free throw, a full-court length pass, and a buzzer-beater to tie the game. Oklahoma City went on to beat the Timberwolves in overtime.

Following the Jordan Bell jersey incident, Paul was whistled for two delay of game violations in OKC’s next game. Paul said of those calls that the refs “got him back” and were “trying to make a point”.

The NBA rules clearly state that players should have their uniforms tucked in when entering the game. “If his shirt is untucked when he is beckoned into the game by the official, a delay of game violation shall be assessed”.