For a moment, it looked like Boris Diaw had tied the game between the Jazz and the Clippers with seconds remaining. With five seconds left down three, Utah inbounded straight to Diaw, who was intentionally fouled and immediately shot up a three that splashed home.
Boris Diaw nearly tied Jazz-Clippers Game 3, but his shot was waved off
Diaw didn’t get continuation from the referees, which was the right call.
The shot was waved off, with the referees deciding the foul had come before Diaw went into his shooting motion, and it was the right call. Diaw clearly only started his shooting motion after he was grabbed. But where people can reasonably get annoyed is that some NBA referees have allowed much more generous continuation calls this season, especially with star players. I even wonder if referees would have sided on giving Diaw the shot if it had happened earlier in a game, though obviously no one can say that for sure.
But ultimately, it was the right call. Here’s a screenshot; when Diaw is grabbed, he hasn’t even collected the ball from his dribble yet.
Diaw missed the first free throw and hit the second, which was followed by J.J. Redick missing a free throw and also missing the second. Needing a three-pointer, Gordon Hayward sailed an attempted half court pass out of bounds, and the Clippers held onto a 111-106 win.
I am sad that this moment wasn’t a magical one for Diaw, because he deserves all the good things in this world. But there’s time left in this series for that, and it doesn’t have to come at the expense of a bad call.
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