Last night's matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies was a doozy until the end. So much so that Warriors star Steph Curry and coach Steve Kerr embraced in triumph, after a 121-116 victory.
But the tantalizing part came in the final two minutes on a pair of questionable calls against the Warriors, per the NBA's L2M report. Calls that the referees now admit that they missed.
The first call came when Draymond Green was fouled out for a reach-in call against Grizzlies guard Scottie Pippen Jr. Green protested the call, but to no avail.
Then, Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski was fouled with 37 seconds left while contesting a shot against Pippen. Even though fans said it was a clean block.
The L2M report clearly states that Podziemski had a clean block and that he shouldn't have been called for a foul in the final 37 seconds, per of Brett Siegel of Clutchpoints.
Warriors forward Kevon Looney was hit with a foul for a play that he wasn't involved in much. His teammate Moses Moody was going for the rebound when he shoved into Grizzlies center Zach Edey.
Looney was called for the foul, and Edey went to the free-throw line. Edey made both free throws and cut the Warriors' lead to a point with 14 seconds left in the game.
The Grizzlies found themselves trailing 119-116. Then Ja Morant tried to foul Curry, but Curry knocked the ball out of bounds with seven seconds left.
The report stated that the ball should have returned to the Grizzlies because it went off Curry's hands.
The momentum shifted in the favor of the Grizzlies who seemed poised to come back with the win. However, they were rendered with a five second violation with five seconds left.
Warriors fans popped off against referees
The win puts the Warriors in the playoffs and the exploits of Curry and Jimmy Butler played a big role. But the fans wouldn't let the referees off the hook for those missed calls.
“These refs indeed suck. How is that a foul on Draymond?” Warriorsin9 posted on X.
“This honestly might have been the worst officiated game of the year. Wasn't 5 seconds & even if it was the refs usually would swallow that whistle to not decide the outcome of a game. Oh & GP2 hold Ja Morant which should have been a dead ball foul” LVstackiN posted on X.
Though the Warriors made the postseason and referees admit they were wrong, the fans seem unlikely to forgive.
