The Los Angeles Lakers secured a spot within the NBA In-Season Match semifinals with a hard-fought 106-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns, however the recreation wasn’t with out controversy.
With simply 11.2 seconds remaining and the Lakers main 105-103, LeBron James inbounded the ball to Austin Reaves, who appeared to lose management and fell to the ground. Concurrently, James known as for a timeout, which was controversially granted with solely 8 seconds on the clock.
Suns star Devin Booker expressed frustration, believing it was a fallacious name as Reaves appeared to lose possession of the ball.
“Yeah, once they put a lot anticipation on the sport. We’re not asking for favoritism, only a truthful likelihood. … To look at it unfold like that’s robust,” Booker mentioned postgame, per Ben Golliver.
A pool report on the timeout make clear the officiating resolution. Crew Chief Josh Tiven defined that in stay play, the officers deemed the Lakers nonetheless had possession when James requested the timeout.
“Throughout stay play the official felt that LA nonetheless had possession of the ball when LeBron James requested the timeout. By means of postgame video overview in gradual movement replay, we did see that Austin Reaves had his left hand on the ball whereas it’s pinned towards his left leg, which does represent management,” Tiven mentioned.
Regardless of the contentious conclusion, the Lakers secured the final semifinal spot, and they’ll now face the New Orleans Pelicans in Las Vegas.