For the second time this season, the Sacramento Kings have found themselves on the wrong end of a pivotal late-game call. This time the NBA confirmed in its Last Two-Minute Report that Kevin Huerter was fouled on his potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired vs. the Warriors on Monday night.
You didn't need the L2M report to confirm the foul. It was pretty obvious in real time that Klay Thompson hacked Huerter.
Kevin Huerter & De'Aaron Fox's response to the refs not calling a foul on Klay Thompson trying to block Huerter's game-tying Three attempt. pic.twitter.com/QvRABV6o2T
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) November 8, 2022
"Thompson (GSW) makes contact with Huerter's (SAC) arm, which affects his jump shot attempt," the report stated.
Again, this was pretty obvious in real-time. Had Huerter gotten the whistle, he would've gone to the line for three free throws. Yes, he still would've had to make all three to tie the game, but as a 78 percent free-throw shooter, that's a decent bet.
The Kings are justified in feeling robbed here, Bad calls happen, but as stated above, this is the second time in just nine games that they have gotten the short end of a missed call on a game-winning/tying shot.
On Nov. 2, Miami's Tyler Herro broke a tie game with 1.8 seconds to play with a game-winning 3-pointer, only for the L2M report the following day to confirm that Herro traveled on the play.
TYLER HERRO FOR THE WIN 🔥pic.twitter.com/iNWUh60d9U
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 3, 2022
These are tough breaks for a Kings team that hopes to be fighting for at least a play-in spot in the Western Conference. The races are going to be tight, and two losses at the start of the year that potentially could've been wins mean the same as two losses at the end of the year.
