Fans insist Warriors got robbed in NBA Cup loss vs. Rockets.
The NBA Cup quarterfinals came to a very dramatic end on Wednesday night as the last of the four games wrapped up between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. The Rockets ended the game on a 7-0 run to pull out a 91-90 victory and advance to the final four in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Despite the gritty win by the Rockets, the Warriors appeared to be on the wrong end of a couple of controversial calls down the stretch. First, in the fourth quarter, Stephen Curry was clearly fouled while shooting a 3-pointer, but it was not called. Then, the officials stepped in and made a game-deciding call on one of the final plays of the night.
With the Warriors leading by one point, Stephen Curry missed a 3-pointer with just 11 seconds to go. Gary Payton II got the rebound on the ground and was jumped on by Fred VanVleet. Payton threw the ball away to Rockets guard Jalen Green, who was trying to call a timeout while Jonathan Kuminga tried to wrestle him for the ball.
Tweet not found
The embedded tweet could not be found…
Expand Tweet
Incredibly, referee Bill Kennedy called a foul on Kuminga and sent Green to the free throw line with 3.5 seconds remaining. He made both free throws and the Rockets escaped the Toyota Center with a 91-90 victory.
After the game, fans on social media were in shock and think that the Warriors got screwed by the officials down the stretch.
“Such a horrendous foul call on the Warriors to end an awesome game. It’s a loose ball!! Of course there is contact,” basketball analyst Kevin O’Connor posted on X, formerly Twitter. “What the hell are you doing Bill Kennedy?”
“FYI: that foul is NEVER called, [especially] at the end of a game,” another fan added. “Steph constantly gets fouled on three point attempts and you don’t call jack, but call that?”
One Warriors fan went off on Kennedy, saying “Billy Kennedy should be booed every second he’s inside Chase Center for the rest of his life. They also missed not 1 but 2 fouls on Curry 3s…I wonder if Steph correctly having 6 more free throw attempts in a 1 point game makes the difference too.”
After the game, Steve Kerr understandably ripped Kennedy and the rest of the officiating crew, calling the final call “unconscionable” and stating that not even an elementary school referee would have made the call.
Regardless, it is now the Rockets who will be headed to Las Vegas for a semifinal date with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday while the Warriors watch from home.
Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate.
Be the first to comment