Let’s just get right to it: There are bad calls, and then there’s the offensive foul called on Kyle Lowry in the waning moments of Wednesday night’s Kings-Raptors tilt in Sacramento.
With newly minted commissioner Adam Silver in attendance, referee Michael Smith charged Lowry with an offensive foul after the Raptors point guard made contact with Kings rookie Ben McLemore on a made three-pointer that would have brought Toronto within three points with 25.5 seconds left on the clock. A foul on McLemore—and if you watch the video above that appears to be the only foul that could have occurred—and Lowry would have headed to the line with a chance to cut the lead to two, capping a twenty-point fourth-quarter comeback.
But it didn’t turn out that way.
To make matters worse, when Lowry—who had 21 points—reacted to the call by leaping up and running to the bench to avoid a war of words with Smith, he was charged with a technical foul. It was his second tech of the game, sending Lowry to the locker room.
Like the delay-of-game calls that have become more prevalent this season, the NBA made offensive fouls in which a shooter sticks his foot under a defender to draw a foul a point of emphasis heading into this season. That may help explain why Smith felt justified blowing the whistle at such a crucial part of the contest.
But if you look closely (or, come to think of it, just quickly glance at that clip once), Lowry’s leg isn’t extended any further than it normally is for a guy who tends to get a fair amount of lift on his jumper. Smith clearly saw things differently, though.
To be clear, after laying an egg in the first half before mounting their big comeback, last night’s wasn’t a game the Raptors deserved to win. It’s been an assuring quality of this team that they are able to stay composed when their world crumbles around them, and last night was the second major deficit they’ve erased in three games. On Saturday, Toronto came back from 19 down in Portland—thanks in large part to DeMar DeRozan’s 30 second-half points—but, similarly, saw their comeback effort halted in the dying seconds.
On Saturday, though, DeRozan lost the ball off of his foot, essentially sealing the win for the Trail Blazers, but at least the players decided their own fate in that scenario, and not the referees.
In all likelihood, the NBA will release a statement of some sort in the next week or so, owning up to the poor call. They’ve done so in the past, but it’s a lousy consolation prize, to say the least.
What say you? Was it a fair call? Should the foul have been charged on McLemore? Or count the bucket and play on? Let us know.
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Update: Turns out we shouldn’t be all too surprised with the horrible call after all. Sportsnet has obtained exclusive video of the man who trained referee Michael Smith.