First off, we have to give credit to both the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder for playing one of the most entertaining games of the NBA season thus far. Denver pulled off a 127-124 victory on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Gary Harris after several possessions of heroics from both sides.
The final shot came off of a brilliant inbound pass from Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, who dominated the game with 29 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds. He threw an absolute laser across the entire court to hit Harris directly in the shooting pocket, but there's just one thing -- it shouldn't have counted.
As you can see from the video, Jokic clearly takes multiple side-steps before inbounding the ball, which should have resulted in a violation (according to NBA rules, the inbounder may not "leave the designated throw-in spot"). Also, Jokic took more than five seconds to pass the ball. Go ahead and get out your stopwatch and time the play from when Jokic receives the ball to when it leaves his hands. It's absolutely not fewer than five seconds.
Nikola Jokic looks off the safety and finds Gary Harris for the game winner. SIGN THAT DUDE UP @Broncos! Lawdddd what a pass. #Nuggets pic.twitter.com/Dt93Wq7otS
— Colin Deaver (@KAGS_Colin) February 2, 2018
Look, these are rules that get overlooked on a nightly basis in the NBA, but try telling that to the Thunder. It should have been OKC ball with 1.4 seconds left, and worst-case scenario, they're looking at overtime.
Instead Jokic and Harris get the glory for a beautiful pass and a clutch shot, neither of which should have ever happened.
