Getty Cam Newton
On Sunday night, the Chicago Bulls absorbed a crushing, last-second loss to the Golden State Warriors. However, as it turns out, the play that led to the Warriors’ victory never should have counted.
According to the NBA’s Last-2-Minute Report, the Warriors should have been called for a 5-second violation on the inbounds play that led to the desperation three-point heave from Damion Lee.
According to NBA’s L2M report, not only should Warriors have been called for 5-second violation on inbounds play with 5 seconds left but Kevon Looney committed an offensive foul setting a screen on Coby White that went uncalled.
If you take a look a the play, you can count off about 7 seconds before the ball is inbounded.
Had that violation been called, the Warriors would have turned the ball over, and would have needed a steal of the subsequent inbound pass. If that was unsuccessful, Golden State would have been forced to foul the Bulls and hope for them to miss one of two free throws.
However, with so little time left in the game, the odds of success for the Warriors would have been much lower.
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Can the Bulls Do Anything About the Injustice?
The Bulls can protest the outcome of the game. However, those actions have been historically unsuccessful. On rare occasions, with the most recent taking place in January 2008, the NBA has ordered a portion of a game to be replayed because of an official’s error.
However, in light of what’s happening in the world today with COVID-19, it is very unlikely we’d see something like this happen. Travel has been carefully arranged in a way to limit the movement of teams as much as possible.
With the Warriors only scheduled to come into Chicago once this year, that visit has already taken place, and it seems unlikely the NBA would arrange another visit for a game that took place in the first week of the regular season.
That’s a real shame from a Bulls perspective because a replay would almost certainly give the Bulls a much-needed victory.
Silver Linings
Despite the loss, the Bulls showed a vastly improved effort on both ends of the floor. Their energy on defense was much better, and they got strong performances from Wendell Carter Jr., Lauri Markkanen, and Zach LaVine.
While the Bulls’ three stars weren’t perfect (Markkanen’s interior defense is still too soft, and LaVine’s shot selection and turnovers were a problem), the trio showed some promise. On Tuesday, they will need to bounce back from the tough loss on the road against the Washington Wizards.
Washington has Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, but the team is 0-3, just like the Bulls. Despite the Wizards playing at home, this is a game the Bulls have to consider winnable. It’s time for the team to get a bit desperate and for that energy to result in some on-court success.
Also Read:
- Zach LaVine Admits Major Error at the End of Loss to Warriors
- Bulls Analyst Has a Meltdown Watching Video of Loss to Hawks
- Billy Donovan Offers Revealing Take of Coby White’s Play
- Wendell Carter Jr. Had Candid Comments for Teammates After Blowout Loss
- Bulls Analyst Has Bold Prediction for Zach LaVine, And It’s Not Crazy