Lakers beat Suns amid NBA tournament’s first big officiating controversy

06/12/2023

LOS ANGELES — With the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament promising raised stakes, elimination games, financial bonuses and playoff-like atmospheres, it was only a matter of time before a major officiating controversy erupted.

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns, 106-103, at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night, joining the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and New Orleans Pelicans in the tournament semifinals thanks to a little help from a disputed timeout call in the closing seconds. As LeBron James narrowly prevailed in another classic duel with Kevin Durant, the Lakers headed to Las Vegas while the Suns were left with hard feelings toward the referees.

After Austin Reaves hit a clutch three-pointer to give the Lakers a 105-101 lead, Durant answered with a quick layup that enabled the Suns to trap the ball in the backcourt with 11 seconds left. James inbounded to Reaves, who was quickly double-teamed by Devin Booker and Durant. Reaves made contact with Booker, lost his balance and stumbled to his right, leading both Durant and Booker to pounce. The ball squirted free toward the baseline, where it was collected by Suns guard Grayson Allen.

Allen wasn’t able to attempt a shot or make a pass, though, because the referees ruled that the play was dead because James had called a timeout during the scramble. Video replays appeared to show Reaves didn’t have possession of the ball when James signaled to referee Tom Washington for the timeout.

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Booker and several other Phoenix players immediately protested the call on the court, to no avail. The Lakers subsequently inbounded the ball, Anthony Davis split a pair of free throws, and a desperation three-pointer by Durant that would have forced overtime fell short at the buzzer.

“[The loss hurts worse] when they put so much anticipation on the [tournament] game,” Booker said. “We’re not asking for favoritism, just a fair chance. Even before the game, in the pregame huddles as a team, we’d come in and say, ‘We understand what type of game it’s going to be, just keep playing all the way through it.’ We continued to play an uphill battle the whole time, and to watch it unfold like that is tough.”

Suns Coach Frank Vogel said the referees’ handling of the timeout call was “extremely disappointing,” adding that the tournament game’s do-or-die stakes exacerbated his frustration. Vogel argued that Washington’s timeout call should have been deemed an “inadvertent whistle,” which would have given the ball to the Suns.

“It’s a loose ball,” Vogel said. “The ball is out. You can’t call a timeout on a loose ball. Can’t do it. … The trap was the plan, which worked. We got the trap, we got the turnover, and the damn whistle blows. It’s just frustrating. [The referees] said they can’t review it and that nothing about it was reviewable. You see it all the time: An inadvertent whistle, [and you] take it out on the side. Grayson Allen is going to grab [the ball] and lay it in. … We were ready to tie the game up, and that opportunity was taken away from us.”

Reaves, who scored 20 points off the Lakers’ bench, said Booker ran into him from behind before he lost control of the ball and the timeout was given, though the third-year guard stopped short of saying he was definitely fouled during the collision.

While Durant downplayed the timeout debate and said the “refs ain’t going to get it right all the time,” Booker noted that players from other NBA teams had taken to social media to question the call. The three-time all-star guard also insisted he hadn’t fouled Reaves.

“My hands were back,” said Booker, who finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. “Reaves tried to draw a foul. Once we bumped into each other, I think he was trying to get the ball back since then. That’s a good three, four or five seconds to build up before LeBron grabbed the referee and called the timeout.”

The sequence of events around the timeout will be reviewed during the NBA’s “last two-minute report” process that takes places following all close games, but referee Josh Tiven, who served as the crew chief Tuesday, said James’s timeout had been correctly granted.

“During live play, the official felt that L.A. still had possession of the ball when LeBron James requested the timeout,” Tiven explained in response to postgame questions from a pool reporter. “Through postgame video review in slow motion replay, we did see that Austin Reaves had his left hand on the ball while it’s pinned against his left leg, which does constitute control.”

LeBron James scored a team-high 31 points on Tuesday to help the Los Angeles Lakers advance to the in-season tournament semifinals in Las Vegas. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)

Before the heated closing sequence, the two Pacific Division powers lived up to the NBA’s hopes for an intense knockout round. The Lakers built a 12-point halftime lead thanks to aggressive offensive rebounding and smothering perimeter defense on Booker, but the Suns reeled off a 14-0 run to start the third quarter. Reaves replied with 13 third-quarter points of his own, setting the stage for James and Durant to go mano a mano in the final period.

James, who finished with 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, tallied 15 points in the fourth quarter to hold off Durant, who finished with 31 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Durant, who played through a left ankle sprain down the stretch, hit a pair of three-pointers in the fourth quarter to set up the dramatic endgame.

The Lakers will face the Pelicans in the semifinals on Thursday night, with the Western Conference’s winner meeting either the Pacers or Bucks in Saturday’s championship game at T-Mobile Arena. Each player on the NBA Cup-winning team will earn a $500,000 bonus.

With Phoenix eliminated, Durant didn’t hesitate to make his championship prediction.

“I’m going to go with the Lakers since they beat us,” he said. “They’ve got the size to compete with anybody. They’ve got the quickest flight [to Las Vegas] out of anybody [and] the most fans out of anybody. It’s set up for them to win.”