Opinion | Emotions get the best of Warriors in Charlotte
Joe Perrino, Sports Editor
I’ve watched my fair share of basketball over the years, but the end of a Feb. 20 NBA game between the Golden State Warriors and Charlotte Hornets might be the strangest I’ve ever seen.
Both teams had played atrocious until the final stretch. Golden State’s collective shooting percentage was well below league average, and the Hornets turned the ball over a whopping 24 times, approximately 10 more than their normal outing so far this season. It’s safe to say neither team deserved to win the game.
But one team had to, and it was Charlotte by a slim margin of 102-100. Their journey there, however, was an unorthodox one, powered by both fortunate calls from referees and boneheaded errors by the Warriors.
It all started with 40 seconds left in the game, after Hornets guard Terry Rozier made his third three-pointer in a row to cut the Warrior lead to two points. Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins wound down the shot clock down to 18 seconds and missed. But the Warriors’ Brad Wanamaker was there to save the day, grabbing the offensive rebound and taking the ball out to the top of the key — only to be entangled with Hornets P.J. Washington and LaMelo Ball. This will be important later.
Referees called a jump ball, which means Wanamaker and whoever he fought with for the ball met at center court to await a referee’s toss of the ball in the air and try to tip it to a teammate for possession.
Yet the Warriors made a crucial mistake even before this happened: not calling a timeout when they secured the offensive rebound. They would’ve had possession, and due to there being little time on the clock, could have forced the Hornets to foul out of the timeout and essentially ice the game with free throws. On top of that, referees missed Washington fouling Wanamaker in the initial fight for the ball, so the Warriors guard should have shot free throws anyways.
Yet the real craziness hadn’t even begun at the initial call. Referees took about five minutes to discuss which Hornet had gotten tangled up with Wanamaker and who therefore would be jumping against him. Finally, they settled on Ball. But then more mania with possession ensued.
After Ball successfully tipped the jump to his teammate Gordon Hayward, the Warriors’ Draymond Green scrapped to take control of the ball. The referees granted Hayward possession, but he never clearly had control as compared to Green. The missed call — which would’ve warranted another jump ball — meant the Hornets could call a timeout with about 10 seconds remaining, thus granting them a chance to take a potentially difficult three-pointer to win the game or tie it with a two-pointer. Disappointing, but not the end of the world for the Warriors.
Well, Green didn’t take it well. Unleashing his anger, Green lobbed profanities at the referees, sending shockwaves throughout the empty arena. He got called for a technical foul and was ejected — meaning Charlotte would get two free throws and then possession of the ball. After Rozier sank the free throws, suddenly the score was tied, Charlotte could get off any shot he wanted to go for the win and the Warriors had royally screwed themselves.
You can guess what happened next — the Hornets won at the buzzer, in the form of a ridiculous Rozier fadeaway two-pointer in the corner while being double teamed. I was dumbfounded. Fans can blame the referees all they want, but at the end of the day, Green’s emotions were detrimental to the Warriors’ chances at victory. In the future he, and other players alike, will have to control themselves when it matters. Otherwise, they’ll be liabilities to their teams.