The crew chief from the Warriors' loss to the Clippers explained why Steve Kerr was ejected and admitted their major mistake.
A heated fourth quarter capped off what was otherwise a relatively tame game between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. The Warriors ended up falling at the buzzer, 103-102, after a potential game-winner from Jimmy Butler was off the mark, but it wasn't before the referees took some heat for calls and missed calls.
The most notable of such heat came with 8 minutes left. A Steph Curry circus floater was called a foul before the act of shooting, then an obvious goaltending by John Collins on a Gary Payton II layup attempt was missed by all of the referees. On the ensuing play on the other end, Curry was called for his fourth foul of the game on a slight shooting foul.
All of those culminated in Steve Kerr rushing out beyond half-court to scream at the refs and give them a piece of his mind. Kerr was quickly assessed two technical fouls and ejected from the game, but not before he aired out all of his frustrations.
NBA Official Admits Mistake, Explains Kerr's Ejection
After the game, Tomer Azarly from ClutchPoints interviewed the game's crew chief, Brian Forte, and asked questions about what Kerr said to be ejected and if the goaltending was correctly uncalled.
"For the first technical foul, Coach Kerr aggressively approached the official while shouting profanities. After the first technical was called, he continued shouting profanities while being held back by his assistant coach. And led to the second technical foul."
However, it seems that Kerr had every right to be upset given Forte's answer about the goaltending.
"The shot by (Gary) Payton hit the backboard prior to being touched by Collins. It should have been ruled a goaltending violation. The only way it could have been reviewed was if it was called on the floor and the Clippers challenged the call, because it did not occur in the last two minutes of the game."
Outside of the qualms many coaches and players have with the rules surrounding reviews, it's a devastating revelation that the missed goaltending was indeed a mistake by the refs. It resulted in a three-point swing — taking away the layup from Payton and giving the technical free throw from Kerr's ejection — and in a game that ended with a one-point margin, every score matters.
The Warriors can do nothing but put this tough loss behind them as they head back home to face off against the Milwaukee Bucks to start an eight-game homestand.