NBA: Late Foul Missed In Warriors-Clips Game
The NBA said referees missed a foul call late in the Warriors' Game 1 win that would have given the Clippers a chance to tie the score.
Los Angeles point guard Chris Paul lost the ball out of bounds with 18.9 seconds left Saturday and Golden State leading 107-105. Rod Thorn, the league's president for basketball operations, said in a statement Sunday that the Warriors' Draymond Green should have been whistled for a foul, which would have given Paul two free throws.
Instead, Golden State got the ball and went on to win 109-105 in Los Angeles to open the first-round playoff series.
Officials reviewed the video after the ball went out of bounds and awarded possession to the Warriors. Thorn said that decision was correct, but the foul was missed moments earlier. Referees are not allowed to check for fouls when they use replay.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers commended the league for admitting the error.
"A mistake happened on their end, but we made our own mistakes," he said Sunday. "We have to take ownership of that."