Last season the NBA’s Last Two Minute report felt like an open apology letter to the Kings. Countless games were lost by the Kings and more than a handful were directly impacted by incorrect calls by NBA officials.
Maybe the curse has been broken?
According to Thursday’s L2M report, the officials made four mistakes in the overtime session of the Kings' 124-122 win over the Denver Nuggets. Three of those errors favored the Kings, including two in the final 8.4 seconds.
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The first mistake came with 1:59 remaining in overtime when the officials missed a call against Hassan Whiteside on a turnover by Nikola Jokic. With a back and forth game, every error counts, but this missed call was mostly inconsequential.
The most glaring errors by the officiating crew of Tony Brown, Derrick Collins and John Butler came in the nine seconds as the game spun out of control.
With the Kings trailing 122-120, De’Aaron Fox swatted away Will Barton’s lay-up attempt, which triggered a fast break heading the other way. According to the L2M report, Harrison Barnes, who tied the game with a layup, traveled with 8.4 seconds remaining.
Barnes’ made basket set up a crazy finish. Coming out of a timeout, Denver inbound the ball to Jokic near halfcourt. Barnes aggressively attacked the Nuggets star center and poked the ball away.
NBA
The ball trickled to De’Aaron Fox, who fired a pass back to Barnes who was flying down the court for a breakaway basket.
Barnes went for a hammer dunk, but Barton came out of nowhere to defend the hoop, forcing the Kings’ forward to miss.
Buddy Hield grabbed the rebound and tipped it back in to give Sacramento the improbable 124-122 win at the Pepsi Center.
Upon further review, the NBA found two mistakes. First, Barnes fouled Jokic at center court, which would have allowed Denver to retain possession of the ball.
“Barnes (SAC) makes contact to Jokic's (DEN) arms as he receives the inbound pass and causes him to lose possession of the ball.”
Secondly, the officiating crew also missed a call against Barton on Barnes’ dunk attempt.
“Barton (DEN) jumps from point A to point B into Barnes (SAC) and makes contact with his arm and body that affect the dunk attempt.”
As the Kings learned last season, there is no recourse for in-game mistakes by the officiating crew. The league doesn’t force teams to line back up and play out the sequence again at a later date.
RELATED: Fox's block provides spark in overtime win over Nuggets
Somewhere in Denver head coach Michael Malone is likely shaking his fist in the air while cursing loudly. Kings coach Luke Walton knows that feeling all too well.
So far the Kings are 1-0 on the season and 1-0 against the L2M report. That’s already better than last year’s start.