Late in overtime during the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 119-107 win on Saturday, Thunder guard Chris Paul was trying to get around Houston Rockets guard Ben McLemore when Paul elbowed him in the groin.
It was called an offensive foul. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni wanted more.
D’Antoni thought it should have been reviewed for a flagrant foul. He argued with the referees and was eventually issued a technical himself.
The play wasn’t reviewed.
“I asked the referee to just go over and review it. He might have been right. I didn’t have it clear, but I know my guy got hit in a bad place with an elbow, so go look at it,” D’Antoni said.
“If you’re right, you’re right. So be it. But it’s not like in the bubble, we have — must be entertainment going on somewhere, because what else do we have to do but just go over and look at it, come back and play basketball?”
By that point, there was 1:20 left in overtime, and the Thunder were up by 11.
Paul said it was an accident and that he checked on McLemore to make sure he was OK.
Chris Paul’s foul on Ben McLemore in the OT according to #Rockets analyst Matt Bullard (@bull50) “was very foul.” pic.twitter.com/a8TWvThV4Z
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) August 23, 2020
“I tried to get by him. It was incidental,” Paul said. “I know when I did it on purpose, that was in college. That was a long time ago. I checked on Ben, he said he was fine. I know Mike. He’s gonna get mad, he’s gonna yell and scream. He got a tech. We move on.”
That college incident Paul referred to was during the ACC Tournament in 2005. He was suspended one game after striking North Carolina State guard Julius Hodge in the groin.
Despite how late it was in the game and that it appeared to be accidental, Rockets including D’Antoni and guard James Harden wanted it reviewed as a flagrant in case it could be deemed unnecessary and excessive contact.
“Any time that happens, it should be reviewed, especially when it’s not around a lot of people. I know I’ve done that, and it got reviewed before. That’s all we was asking for, is a review,” Harden said. “I don’t know what it was, but it should have been reviewed. Especially if someone gets hit in their private area.”