The NBA's Last Two Minute Report has not been kind to the Kings this season. But Sacramento benefited from couple of key missed calls late in its come-from-behind 127-126 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night at Golden 1 Center. The officials missed two crucial calls in one single second.
With the game tied at 124 and one minute remaining, Kings forward Trey Lyles drove to the bucket and misfired on a layup. Nuggets center Nikola Jokić grabbed the rebound with two hands before Kings big man Domantas Sabonis swiped it away. Lyles, who was still on the ground after his layup attempt, tapped the loose ball towards Sabonis, who picked it up for a go-ahead two-handed slam.
In the Last Two Minute Report released Thursday, the NBA revealed a foul should have been called on Sabonis slapping the ball away from Jokić. Also, Lyles' foot was out of bounds when he bumped the ball to Sabonis under the basket.
"Sabonis (SAC) swipes his arm down and makes contact with Jokić's (DEN) arm that causes Jokić to lose control of the ball," the report reads. "Lyles' (SAC) right foot is out of bounds when he makes contact with the ball."
Both calls drastically would have changed the game. That missed foul call on Sabonis would have been his sixth personal, meaning he would be removed from the game and the Kings would play the final 58.5 seconds without their All-Star center. If Lyles was called out of bounds, the Nuggets would have gained possession with 57.1 seconds left in a tie game. Yikes.
However, for what might feel like a rarity for Kings fans this season, a couple of late-game calls went in Sacramento's favor.
NBA
Earlier this year, the Last Two Minute Report left a bad taste in the mouths of Kings fans. Officials missed a traveling violation on Tyler Herro's game-winning triple in the Kings' three-point loss on Nov. 2. Five days later, the Last Two Minute Report revealed referees swallowed their whistles when Warriors forward Klay Thompson fouled Kevin Huerter on a potential game-tying trey in the closing seconds of another three-point loss. Both missed calls prevented the Kings from having a chance to win the game.
"It's tough being a Sacramento King, I think, because Kevin got fouled," Brown told reporters after losing to the Warriors on Nov. 7. "I just want, at the end of the game, somebody to step up and make the right call. And a guy gets hit on the arm shooting a three, it's foul. A guy takes six steps or three or four steps, it's a travel.
"And we just want an opportunity to win in overtime. But just like in the Miami game, I asked the ref if it was a foul. He said, no. It's clearly a foul. And again, like I said, I feel bad because our guys fought and they didn't get an opportunity in overtime."
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Yes, the officials missed two late calls Wednesday night. But don't expect Kings fans to be shipping flowers to Denver and apologizing for their team's one-point win in front of a sellout Golden 1 Center crowd.