Golden State coach Steve Kerr said a foul call during his team’s NBA Cup loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night was “unconscionable” and that an elementary school referee wouldn’t have made it.
After Stephen Curry missed a three-pointer with Golden State leading by a point with 11 seconds left, Gary Payton II grabbed the offensive rebound but turned the ball over on a pass that Jalen Green intercepted. Jonathan Kuminga was then called for a foul on Green while they were on the floor, giving Green a pair of free throws that lifted Houston to a 91–90 victory and a spot in the NBA Cup semifinals.
“I’m angry,” Kerr said. “I wanted to go [the semi-finals] in Las Vegas. We wanted to win this Cup, and we’re not going because of a loose ball foul, 25 yards from the basket with the game on the line. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life, and that was ridiculous.”
Kerr thought it should have either been a jump ball or the Rockets should have gotten the timeout they tried to call.
“Our guys fought back, played their best and deserved to win that game or at least have a chance at one stop at the end to finish the game,” he said. “And that was taken away from us by a call that I don’t think a primary school referee would have made. Because that guy would have felt and said, ‘You know what, I’m not going to decide a game on a loose ball 25 yards from the basket.’
Crew chief Billy Kennedy was asked why the foul was called.
“The defender makes contact with the neck and shoulder area, which warrants a personal foul,” Kennedy said.
Kerr went on a rant about the referee for about two minutes after the game, complaining about what he said was a clear foul on Curry that had not been called earlier.
“The match was a complete wrestling match,” Kerr said. “They didn’t call anything. Steph Curry got hit on the elbow on the day on a jump shot, but just grounded there and no call. So you have determined that you are not going to shout anything during the game, it is a physical game. Then you’re going to call a loose ball foul in a jump ball situation where guys dive to the ground with the game on the line?
Houston snapped a 15-game skid against the Warriors and won for the first time in the series since February 2020 when James Harden and Russell Westbrook led the Rockets.
In Wednesday’s other quarterfinal, Trae Young had 22 points and 11 assists, De’Andre Hunter and Jalen Johnson outlasted the Knicks’ frontcourt and the Atlanta Hawks continued their surprise NBA Cup run by beating New York 108-100 in Madison Square Garden.
Hunter scored 24 points and Johnson had 21 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks, who were perhaps the surprise team of the tournament after they knocked off defending champion Celtics in Boston and NBA leader Cleveland Cavaliers in group play to earn the knockout reaches. podium as the No. 3 seed in the East.
But the game will most likely be remembered for Young’s celebration at the end of the game, when he knelt on the Knicks logo and pretended to roll dice to celebrate his team’s progress to Vegas. In 2021, he drew the ire of Knicks fans after eliminating New York from the playoffs by bowing and waving goodbye to the crowd at Madison Square Garden.
“We’re going to Vegas, so I had to do that,” Young said, referring to his dice celebration. “I planned that with my brother a few days ago. We had talked about that, and I mean, I knew what I was going to do.”
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said he had no problem with the celebration. “We have to win the game if we don’t want him to do that.”
NBA Cup semi-final
Atlanta Hawks vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Houston Rockets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder