NBA Cup: Steve Kerr fumes at ‘ridiculous’ call as Warriors fall to Rockets | NBA Cup

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 up a point with 11 seconds to go, Gary Payton II grabbed the offensive rebound, but turned the ball over with a pass that Jalen Green intercepted. Jonathan Kuminga was then called for a foul against Green while they were on the floor, giving Green a pair of free throws that lifted Houston to the 91-90 victory and a spot in the NBA Cup semi-finals.

“I’m pissed off,” Kerr said. “I wanted to go to [the semi-finals] in Las Vegas. We wanted to win this Cup, and we aren’t going because of a loose ball foul, 80ft from the basket with the game on the line. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life, and that was ridiculous.”

Kerr thought it should have either been a jump ball or the Rockets should have been given the timeout they were attempting to call.

“Our guys battled back, played their butts off and deserved to win that game or at least have a chance for one stop at the end to finish the game,” he said. “And that was taken from us by a call that I don’t think an elementary school referee would have made. Because that guy would have had feel and said: ‘You know what I’m not going to decide a game on a loose ball 80 feet from the basket.’”

Crew chief Billy Kennedy was asked why the foul was called.

“The defender makes contact with the neck and shoulder area, warranting a personal foul to be called,” Kennedy said.

Kerr ranted for about two minutes about the officiating after the game and complained about what he believed was a clear foul on Curry that wasn’t called earlier.

“The game was a complete wrestling match,” Kerr said. “They didn’t call anything. Steph Curry got hit on the elbow plain as day on a jump shot, just clubbed right on there and no call. So, you’ve established that you’re just not going to call anything throughout the game, it’s a physical game. Then you’re going to call a loose ball foul on a jump ball situation with guys diving on the floor with the game on the line?”

Houston snapped a 15-game skid against the Warriors, winning for the first time in the series since February 2020 when James Harden and Russell Westbrook led the Rockets.

In Wednesday’s other quarter-final, Trae Young had 22 points and 11 assists, De’Andre Hunter and Jalen Johnson outplayed the Knicks frontcourt and the Atlanta Hawks continued their surprising NBA Cup, beating New York 108-100 at 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 knocking off the defending champion Celtics in Boston and NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers in group play to reach the knockout stage 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 as he knelt down on the Knicks logo and pretended to roll dice in celebration of his team’s progress to Vegas. In 2021 he attracted 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 that’s what I had to,” Young said in reference to his dice celebration. “I planned that one with my little 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 should win the game if we don’t want him to do that.”

NBA Cup semi-finals

Atlanta Hawks v Milwaukee Bucks

Houston Rockets v Oklahoma City Thunder