During the Oklahoma City Thunder's thrilling overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, Chris Paul made a savvy veteran move when he alerted officials of Jordan Bell's untucked jersey as Bell was entering the game. The delay of game violation that the referees called resulted in a technical free throw and possession for the Thunder, which gave OKC the chance to tie the game and send it to OT.

It was a truly puzzling sequence of events, as that call is rarely ever seen in an NBA game. Oftentimes players tuck their jerseys in as they're stepping onto the floor, which, yes, is a violation of the rule. However, referees typically just let it go. Except this time, when Paul called attention to it, referee Scott Foster blew his whistle and it became a huge advantage for the Thunder, and ultimately won them the game. Paul basked in his smart move after that game, saying, "Yeah, I told them his jersey was untucked. I know the rules."

Unfortunately for Paul, the delay of game rule does apply to everyone, including his own team. Just two days after that win over Minnesota, Oklahoma City faced the Portland Trail Blazers, where in the second quarter, with the Thunder up 51-38, officials called a second delay of game penalty on the Thunder, which resulted in a technical free throw for the Blazers. The first of the two came in the first quarter, though head coach Billy Donovan said after the game that he's unsure about the reasoning behind the first call. The second violation was called due to Thunder players, including Paul, stepping onto the court while wearing their warm-ups when checking into the game. During the whole ordeal, Paul could be heard over the broadcast, and he wasn't too happy about it.

Paul can be heard in the clip above saying, "He's trying to prove a f------ point, he's trying to prove a point." Followed by, "You're going to be on SportsCenter tonight, good job."

After the game, Paul found humor in the situation, saying the officials "got me back," with the two OKC delay of game violations. When asked if he thought that those calls stemmed from what he did during the Minnesota game, Paul tilted his head to the side and said, "what you think?"

"The second one, the explanation was they stepped on the floor with their sweats on," Donovan said. "I didn't see it. ... As they were stepping on the court they were taking their sweats off. That's what was said, but I'm going to see. I don't want to say yes or no, I just want to see. Because I hadn't had a chance really to see it."  

"He got me, I learned something too, that you can't have your shooting shirt and your pants on when you're checking in," Paul said. "You learn something new, but we won so we're cool."

The call didn't have nearly as much impact as it did during the Minnesota game, and despite the referees sticking it to Paul and the Thunder two days later, it is a smart tactic to use in a close-game situation. Going forward, though, Paul will probably make sure that his team doesn't give officials the chance to retaliate against him with frivolous violations like that.