The In-Season Tournament quarterfinal clash between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns saw a bit of controversy right at the end, over a timeout. LeBron James was the one who called the timeout and he shared his insight on the situation.
“I felt (Devin Booker) kind of pushed up on (Austin Reaves) a little bit, made AR stumble,” James said. “And as soon as I seen AR start to stumble a little bit, I started to make the notion and the voice to the referee that was closest to me for a timeout. After that, I mean, I heard them, the commotion. The ball was loose, or whatever the case may be. But my direction was right towards the referee to get us a timeout, for sure.”
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The controversial incident occurred with the Lakers leading 105-103 with just over 11 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. After James inbounded the ball to Austin Reaves, he lost possession of it after coming under pressure from Devin Booker and Kevin Durant.
As that was unfolding, James called a timeout, but it appeared he had done so after Reaves lost the ball. The referees, however, ruled he had possession and allowed the timeout to be called.
The Suns were furious and social media was up in arms as well. There were others, of course, who believed Reaves had possession. A slow-motion replay of the sequence seems to suggest to some that Reaves had not lost the ball when LeBron called for the timeout.
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It is a shame that this incident ended up somewhat overshadowing what was a great game of basketball. James shared his full thoughts on it during his post-match interview and you can check all of it below.
LeBron was the big reason the Lakers got the win, as he ended the night with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 11 assists, and 5 steals. The 38-year-old scored 15 points in the fourth quarter and ensured the Lakers came away with a 106-103 win, which meant they advanced to the semifinals.
They’ll take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night in Las Vegas, with the winner heading to the grand finale. Awaiting one of these two would be either the Indiana Pacers or the Milwaukee Bucks. There was a lot of criticism surrounding the idea of this tournament but it’s safe to say it has led to some incredible action on the court.
The Crew Chief Stated That Reaves Had Possession Of The Ball
Considering the controversial finish, there was a lot of interest in the Pool Report interview after the game with the crew chief Josh Tiven. When asked by The Athletic’s Jovan Buha about the timeout call, Tiven explained that they had indeed got it right.
“During live play the official felt that LA still had possession of the ball when LeBron James requested the timeout,” Tiven said. “Through postgame video review in slow motion replay, we did see that Austin Reaves had his left hand on the ball while it’s pinned against his left leg, which does constitute control.”
Well, if they found an angle that conclusively showed that, then there is no controversy here. That explanation might still not suffice for some, though. Booker took to Instagram to react to the call and later in his press conference, stated that the whole world could see that a mistake was made.
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