By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
It does not get much tougher for the referees to make a call than in the dying seconds of the double-overtime thriller between the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns in Delta Center on Sunday.
Finnish Lauri Markkanen was preparing for three free throws and the opportunity to force a third extra period. He instead settled for a heartbreaking loss. The game officials overturned the initial call upon video review.
Kevin Durant was called for a foul with less than one second left in the second overtime of the NBA Sundays affair.
“I think he got the ball, but he hit my left arm, and that’s what I thought they called foul,” described Markkanen, “Then I saw the replay, and I didn’t even know if they’re looking at body contact, or I started looking to see if I was inbounds in general. I mean, that’s the decision they made, I have nothing for it. But it’s annoying to lose a game like that.”
“It was ridiculous to even call that,” was the reaction of Durant, “I knew I blocked the shot and I knew I didn’t touch him at all.”
Markkanen, 26, dropping a season-high 38 points was not enough to prevent his side from falling to 4-9 in the 2023-24 Regular Season. With 17 rebounds, he recorded his double-double in his seventh NBA campaign.
On the road for a back-to-back, the Jazz resume action against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday and the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday.
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