Less than a day after the second overtime ended in the nail-biting Opening Night game between the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA released a statement concerning an illegal timeout called by the Rockets. 

According to the NBA, Kevin Durant should have been penalised with a technical foul for calling a timeout at the end of the first overtime. The problem was both teams had expended their allotted timeouts by the time he signaled referees. 

After a missed shot by the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Durant snagged the ball for a defensive rebound and clearly motioned for a timeout with 0.8 seconds on the clock to close out the first overtime. The score was 115-115, and had it been called, Gilgeous-Alexander would have been granted one shot at the line, and the Thunder would have claimed victory then, instead of playing through a second overtime. 

Oklahoma City tried to contest the missed call, but were unsuccessful, and the game went into the second overtime. 

For the duration of the second overtime, the two teams traded marginal leads up until the very end. The Rockets had a one-point lead when a personal foul was called on Durant that awarded Gilgeous-Alexander two shots at the free throw line with 2.3 seconds left on the clock. He made both. Durant fouled out and wasn’t there to support in those final two seconds when Reed Sheppard went for a two that rimmed out. 

Oklahoma City ultimately won, but only by one point: 125-124

Tired and frustrated, the Thunder had to win twice.