"That doesn't seem fair to me" - Charles Barkley questions the controversial timeout snatched from Lakers in clutch time

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During the crunch time of Game 5, coach Darvin Ham used his final timeout to challenge a foul call on Anthony Davis. Although the challenge proved to be successful and the call on the floor was overturned, the LA Lakers were left with no timeouts in the closing minutes.

Delving on this decisive moment, Charles Barkley argued post-game that the Purple and Gold should have retained their final timeout after successfully challenging the call.

The Round Mound of Rebound emphasized that no team should be penalized for the referees’ mistakes.

“If you win a challenge and you lose a timeout, that doesn’t seem fair to me,” Barkley said on NBA on TNT. “I don’t understand why they win the challenge but lose the timeout. I want clarification.”

Skip Bayless echoed Barkley’s sentiments

Retaining their final timeout would have allowed the Lakers to craft their final play carefully to attempt a game-winner. Instead, they had no choice but to attempt a desperate heave from half-court after Jamal Murray’s 14-foot jumper gave the Nuggets a narrow 108-106 lead with just over 3 seconds remaining.

That being said, joining Barkley in his sentiment, Bayless also believed that the 2020 NBA Champs were unfairly deprived of their final timeout call.

To clarify, according to NBA rules, if a team successfully challenges a call earlier in the game, it retains its timeout. However, regardless of the outcome, they lose a timeout on a second challenge.

Nuggets were on point with their timeout strategy

While the Lakers grappled with the absence of a timeout, Coach Malone displayed his strategic prowess by refraining from using Denver’s two timeouts, even when the scores were tied at 106 apiece with 26 seconds remaining.

He not only opted not to grant the Lakers the opportunity to set their strategy in place but even held enough confidence in Murray and Nikola Jokic’s two-man play to get the job done without setting the play.