Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was furious at the three referees after their 119-115 loss against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. Nuggets guard Christian Braun signaled for a timeout with 1.9 seconds remaining but Denver was without any timeouts.
Kerr argued that Denver should have been assessed a technical foul, and refs should have given a free throw to them. But chief referee Tyler Ford called a jump ball and the Dubs ended on the wrong side of the result.
“Braun called a timeout,” Kerr said. “He dove on the floor, he rolled over. Everybody saw it except for the three guys we hire to do the games, and that makes me angry. That’s a technical foul. They don’t have a timeout left. We shoot a free throw, we get the ball, we got a chance to win the game.
“They [the officials] all told me they didn’t see it. … It’s up to the referees to see [it]. That’s why we have three of them. Somebody’s got to see it. So yeah, that made me mad.”
On the other hand, Tyler Ford revealed that Braun’s signal was not clear and thus none of the referees spotted it.
“Christian Braun never fully or clearly signaled for a timeout,” Ford said. “Therefore a timeout was not recognized.”
“No,” Braun said when asked if he called timeout. “It might’ve looked like it maybe. I was fumbling the ball on the ground a little bit. My hands moved, but the refs didn’t call it.”
Meanwhile, Stephen Curry had 24 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds for the Warriors but his efforts went in vain.
Kerr admitted they are struggling to close out games, which is leading to their downfall.
“That’s not why we lost,” Kerr said of the Braun play. “We lost because we didn’t close. Again. This is like the fifth game in a row where we’ve — maybe not all five [losses] — but most of these games in this stretch, we’re not closing, we’re not executing, we’re not making good decisions, and it’s got to improve.”
After losing their previous five matches, the Warriors will take on the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
