The Golden State Warriors were warming up for Game 3 of the 2022 NBA Finals when someone noticed the rim they were shooting on looked a little higher than normal. The Warriors brought it to the attention of the officials, and it turns out they were right: the basket the Warriors were shooting at was two inches above the 10-foot standard height, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
The Celtics had the Warriors’ rim 2 inches too high before Golden State caught it
Was this gamesmanship or an innocent mistake?
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.
Boston’s arena crew immediately tended to the rim, but it took 20 minutes to fix while the Warriors were supposed to be warming up. Here’s video of workers at TD Garden fixing the Warriors’ basket.
Was this an innocent mistake, or the Celtics up to some trickery? We tend to believe it’s the former, but let’s be honest: anything goes in a 1-1 series with the championship on the line. It is pretty unbelievable this game would have been played with one basket measuring 10-feet and two-inches if no one noticed it.
Golden State fans might not think it’s a coincidence that the Warriors were outscored 33-22 in the opening frame.
An incident like this is nothing new in the NBA Finals. Remember when the air conditioning shut off during the Heat-Spurs series back in 2014 and LeBron James had to exit with cramps?
We will keep you updated on any and all gamesmanship as the series develops.
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