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NBA officials miss clear timeout violation on Kevin Durant, cost OKC potential win in OT

Chandler Vesselsby: Chandler Vessels14 hours agoChandlerVessels
kevin durant
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Madness ensued at the end of the first overtime period in Tuesday’s season-opening matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. With the game tied at 115 and just a few seconds remaining, the Thunder’s potential game-winning shot fell short as Kevin Durant grabbed the rebound.

Durant attempted to call timeout but the Rockets did not have any. Normally under NBA rules, this would be a technical foul and OKC would have been awarded a free throw to potentially clinch the win. However, no technical was assessed as the game went into another overtime.

Several Thunder players were seen pleading their case to officials as did coach Mark Daigneault. However, it appears the refs saw no issue with the play and allowed the game to move into a second overtime.

Ultimately, OKC would get it revenge in the second overtime when Durant fouled out with 2.3 seconds remaining, sending Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the free throw line. He sunk both shots to put the Thunder up 125-124, the same score they would go on to win by.

Of course, tensions between the Thunder and Durant have been high ever since July 4, 2016, when he made the decision to leave OKC in free agency and join the Golden State Warriors. Durant would go on to win back-to-back titles in Golden State, leaving the Thunder to struggle to remain a contender over the next several seasons. They still made the playoffs the next four seasons but never advanced past the first round.

That ultimately led to a massive rebuild for OKC, which carefully stockpiled draft picks and rebuilt its team. The end result was an NBA championship last season, finally delivering Thunder fans the trophy they had at one point imagined Durant bringing to the city.

That in mind, Kevin Durant being in the building as the new Thunder team received their championship rings was a massive storyline entering Tuesday evening. The dramatic finish to the game involving the former OKC star certainly delivered on that front.

In the end, the missed call didn’t end up coming back to bite the Thunder after all. If it had, we likely would have been hearing from a lot of frustrated OKC fans. But as it stands now, the team is off to a 1-0 start to the new season as they hope to defend their title and bring another one home this year.