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Steve Kerr was beside himself following the Golden State Warriors’ loss to the Houston Rockets.
Golden State was eliminated from contention in the Emirates NBA Cup, but Kerr was more upset about how his team lost. With the Warriors ahead 90-89, Gary Payton II snagged a rebound from Stephen Curry’s missed three-pointer.
Payton attempted to pass the ball to teammate Jonathan Kuminga.
Instead, Rockets guard Jalen Green got his hands on the ball. Green’s pleas for a timeout went unanswered. But officials called Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga for a foul.
“I’ve never seen a loose ball foul on a jump ball situation 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line. I’ve never seen that. I think I saw it in college one time, 30 years ago. Never seen it in the NBA. That is, I mean, unconscionable. I don’t even understand what just happened. Loose ball, diving on the floor, 80 feet from the basket, and you’re going to give a guy two free throws to decide the game when people are scrambling for the ball?” Kerr told reporters on December 12.
Referee Bill Kennedy said they called the foul because Kuminga made contact with “the neck and shoulder area,” per the official pool report.
Kerr believed Green should have been granted possession and a timeout at most.
“Just give them a timeout,” Kerr said. “Give them a timeout and let the players decide the game. That’s how you officiate, especially because the game was a complete wrestling match. They didn’t call anything. Steph Curry got hit on the elbow – plain as day – on a jump shot. Just clubbed right on there; no call.
“You’ve established you’re just not going to call anything throughout the game. It’s a physical game. We’re going to call it a loose ball foul on a jump ball situation with guys diving on the floor? With the game on the line? This is a $1 billion industry. You got people’s jobs on the line.”
Steve Kerr ‘Stunned’ After Late Call in Warriors’ Loss to Rockets
Kerr tipped his cap to the Rockets. But he lamented feeling that the Warriors had their due opportunity to win the game and advance to the NBA Cup Semifinals stolen from them.
“I am stunned; I am stunned. I give the Rockets credit, they battled back. They played great defense all night. But I feel for our guys. Our guys battled back, played their a**** off, and deserved to win that game – or at least have a chance for one stop at the end to finish the game,” Kerr said.
“That was taken from us by a call that I don’t think an elementary school referee would have made, because that guy would have had feel and said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to decide a game on a loose ball 80 feet from the basket.”
Green would step to the line and knock down two critical free throws to take the lead for good.
The Warriors overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half, scoring 37 points in the game’s first 24 minutes.
They outscored the Rockets 53-47 after the break. But Houston closed the game on a 7-0 run.
Warriors Must Move on Quickly After Blowing Lead Rockets
The Warriors were in relative control late against the Rockets. Kerr cannot let the loss linger into their next outing when Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks come back to town.
“Warriors give away a six-point lead in the final 77 seconds in Houston,” The Athletic’s Anthony Slater posted on X on December 11. “[Fred] VanVleet 3, [Alperen] Sengun layup and then a controversial loose ball foul on a scramble with 3.5 seconds left gives Jalen Green the game-winning free throws. No Vegas for Warriors. Home on Sunday vs Mavericks.”
Kerr and the Warriors won Thompson’s homecoming game 120-117.
Thompson averaged 19.5 points and shot 42.1% from deep over the Mavs’ last two outings entering his second coming to his former stomping grounds.
