How many times have the Milwaukee Bucks been screwed by a late-game call by a referee this season? The loss to Houston Rockets should be added to that list.
The Bucks had three chances to tie the game with under a minute to go at Toyota Center.
The first one, they fumbled it themselves when they settled for a Brook Lopez three pointer with 20 seconds remaining their shot clock.
The second, Damian Lillard found an open Giannis Antetokounmpo to cut the lead to one, with 8.5 seconds remaining. Jalen Green made both free throws so it was back to a 3-point lead, 100-97.
Dame finally had the ball in his hands at half court. He got fouled while trying to shoot the ball from that distance but the referees ruled it was not in shooting motion.
Lillard and other Bucks personnel tried their earnest convince game officials that it was a shooting foul but to no avail.
They reset for an inbound, Dame found himself in a good spot but he missed the shot. Game over.
Milwaukee Bucks should’ve received 3 FTs says Damian Lillard
Lillard said his attempt from the half court was a calculated decision after hearing what the other team was talking about.
The Rockets were up by 3 points and head coach Ime Udoka told them to foul to prevent a game-tying shot.
Lillard got wind of it and that is why he took the shot from that distance.
“I think typically you don’t give a team that call because it’s like, the player waits for it (to shoot) to foul and then does it, but I saw them telling each other, ‘foul, foul, foul’ so I really took a risk,” Lillard said after the game.
He also thinks that the referees were wrong for giving him just two shots from the line.
“They almost didn’t call it because that’s how good I timed it. I just picked it up and shot it and he fouled me at the same time. I understand that they like; it’s unrealistic. But at the same time, with the understanding that they’re saying ‘foul’ and I’m telling the refs, I heard them saying ‘foul right away’ so I just made the smarter play. I definitely thought it should have been three free throws.”
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