All the calls and non-calls from Wednesday’s win.
The Golden State Warriors took things down to the wire on Wednesday night, in one of the most thrilling games of their season. They slowly saw their 24-point first-quarter lead evaporate until the Minnesota Timberwolves tied the game with about a minute remaining. But the Dubs were resilient rather than crushed, and rallied to escape with a 116-115 win. It was close to being one of the worst losses of the season; instead, on the road, without Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski, or Kyle Anderson, it was one of their best wins.
There was no shortage of drama. Gary Payton II threw away an inbounds in the closing moments, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney combined for an offensive rebound on a free throw to clinch the game, and the Warriors were granted a timeout with a second remaining after it seemed like the game was over.
But despite that drama, there was no real controversy, and the NBA confirmed that. As they do for all close games — defined as “games that were at or within three points during any point in the last two-minutes of the fourth quarter (and overtime, where applicable)” — the league unveiled the day-after Last 2 Minute Report, in which they combed through the final two minutes of action.
In all, the league found 15 instances to review in those two minutes, but deemed all such instances correct calls or correct non-calls. The final timeout, which was initially granted at 0.8 seconds (though the clock expired before things were sorted out), was explained as “Golden State signals for and is awarded a timeout prior to the expiration of the game clock. After communicating with the Replay Center, the game clock is reset to 00:01.0.”
Always good to avoid controversy … especially when you win.