There was a bit of controversy at the end of Sunday's Game 1 between the Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. While OKC escaped with the 107-103 victory, there was seemingly a non-call that turned the game in favor of the Nuggets. Down 101-100, Kendrick Perkins tipped in the basket for the Thunder to take the lead:
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Or did he? The ball is in the cylinder (that's up for debate since the rule is unclear on what it is exactly) and Perkins' hand is clearly caught in the net when he tips the ball in (see link below on this point). That's a pretty clear cut call of goaltending, but it wasn't called.
So the Thunder took a 102-101 lead and then carried the momentum from that to a 107-103 victory in Game 1. But it's whiny and way too easy to blame the loss on the referees' non-call. In such a close game, shooting 21-of-33 from the free throw line is a bigger problem. The Thunder at the line: 22-of-28.
↵Absolutely it was a bad call, but there were other opportunities for the Nuggets to take care of things, which they didn't.
↵[UPDATE] The NBA admits the refs blew the call.