There was a bizarre sequence to end the Thunder’s Game 2 win over the Spurs. The Thunder were inbounding the ball with 13 seconds left. Inbounder Dion Waiters was being pressured by Manu Ginobili and it was getting close to a five-second call. As Ginobili pressed up against Waiters, Waiters pushed Ginobili before getting the pass off.
Dion Waiters elbows Manu Ginobili from out of bounds, gets away with it
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
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The Spurs would steal the ball but couldn’t convert on their final possession. Oklahoma City wins 98-97. The series is tied 1-1.
After the game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “Something certainly happened on the sideline, I thought.”
TNT announcer Chris Webber was incensed during the sequence. Here’s a transcription of his call:
”That was an offensive foul by OKC on San Antonio. Ginobili, the coaches, the team, everyone is upset. That was an offensive foul. A blatant offensive foul. It was an offensive foul and if I’m Ginobili, if I’m the Spurs, I’m upset too. It was there for everyone to deal with wide open.
“Look at this, he’s out of bounds, you can’t push somebody from out of bounds. I’ve never seen that before. The rest of this play does not matter, it was an offensive foul. Terrible. Whether you’re an OKC fan or a San Antonio fan, I don’t have a dog in this fight, you just want guys to have the best chance to win. You want it to be fair. We have the best officials out of any sport. Not that the referees did it on purpose. But if we’re going to hold Durant and Westbrook accountable and say they don’t trust teammates and pass, then we should hold everyone accountable, including the referees that missed an offensive foul from out of bounds.”
TNT’s Kenny Smith said “That might be the worst non-call in a playoff game I’ve seen in the last five years.”
Magic Johnson went one step further:
Waiters foul on Ginobili was the worst missed call in playoff history.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 3, 2016
Thunder coach Billy Donovan was questioned about the sequence after the game, but said he was not aware of what the reporter was referring to:
The final word goes to Waiters:
Dion Waiters sitting at his locker, scrolling through his phone postgame: "He stepped on the line anyway"
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 3, 2016
Waiters shook his head when asked if he knew he elbowed Ginobili: "I'm in the game, man. I don't really know what's really going on."
— Andrew Keh (@andrewkeh) May 3, 2016
The inbounds dilemma wasn’t the only situation happening. Steven Adams fell into the crowd during the play and on his way back up it appears a fan grabs his arm. It looks as if the fan is simply trying to regain their balance but nonetheless, this play was insane.
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