Brett Davis-USA Today Sports
On Monday night, the Houston Rockets avoided elimination by holding off the Oklahoma City Thunder after a wild final possession resulted in no points. Leading by two, the Rockets picked up the one defensive stop that was necessary to avoid being swept out of the 2013 NBA Playoffs.
However, of course the play was at the center of some controversy. How did Thunder forward Serge Ibaka miss a wide-open and uncontested lay-up? Was Reggie Jackson fouled on his final drive to the basket? Why did Kevin Durant give up the basketball on that final possession?
Let’s took a look.
First off, here’s the video of the final segment:
Now, off the inbounds, trailing by two, the Thunder found Durant — the exact man they wanted to have the basketball. Credit Francisco Garcia though, his defense on Durant forced him to give the ball up rather quickly and more importantly, his denial did not allow him to get it back.
After Durant gave up the ball, Jackson was forced to put it on the floor and drive to the hoop. Despite taking contact and ending up on his backside, no foul was called. Now Jackson, who is seeing increased playing time with the injury to Russell Westbrook, had a pretty solid game, scoring 18 points. On his final drive however, Omer Asik was the help defender and here is where the controversy sets in.
Was Jackson fouled? Asik had his hands straight up, he did not reach and did not go for the block. Bottom line is this though — he fouled him. Asik left his feet and his momentum in coming to help carried him right into Jackson. That’s a foul. With that being said though, just because it was a foul doesn’t mean it’s going to get called, especially in a late game situation on the road in the NBA Playoffs.
Of course even after the missed call, the excitement continued for one final second. Off the Jackson miss, Ibaka was in prime position for the game-winning put back. Ibaka caught and released the ball with 0.3 seconds remaining, just enough time to eliminate the Rockets from the postseason. But he missed it. Ibaka missed the bunny, failing to get it over the rim. There was some instant reaction over why Ibaka rushed the shot? Hmm, I don’t know, maybe because there was 0.3 seconds remaining and the game on the line? Ibaka missed the easy lay-up, end of story, he rushed it only because he had to — it’s not like he had time to catch and gather himself.
Everything aside, it’s a heart breaking defeat for Oklahoma City, but how do you think Houston fans felt when Durant’s three ball in Game 3 clanked off the back iron and somehow bounced in? This has been an intense series, but an exciting one to boot.
Oklahoma City is returning home for Game 5 — they will look to take care of business then and cannot dwell on the final segment from Game 4.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
