Things sort of fell apart at the end of Sunday’s game between the Toronto Raptors and the Oklahoma City Thunder. It all started with about a minute left in the game when Serge Ibaka tackled Steven Adams.
No, really.
As Paul George finished the second of two free throws, Ibaka and Adams began to battle for the possible rebound. Adams gave Ibaka the slip off the lane line, and as a recovery move Ibaka tackled his former teammate on the baseline.
Via Twitter:
Adams and Ibaka sort of playfully jostle for a rebound. Ibaka tackles Adams. Steven pops up with a knowing smirk on his face. pic.twitter.com/WxItjzAyfF
— Jon Hamm (@JonMHamm) March 18, 2018
Then, with 30 seconds left and a chance to tie, DeMar DeRozan drove the lane and missed a shot near the rim while being defended by Corey Brewer.
DeRozan felt he was fouled, and quickly let the officials know about it. The Raptors star could be seen going after ref Marc Davis. Shortly thereafter, DeRozan was given a technical foul.
Via Twitter:
But it didn’t stop there.
A few seconds later, as the game wound down, DeRozan went after the referees again. He was given a second technical, and ejected along with teammate Serge Ibaka.
Then came Raptors coach Dwane Casey.
With fans in the Air Canada Centre chanting at referees, and with tensions high, the officiating crew mistakenly attributed a comment made by a fan or someone else on the Toronto bench to Casey. They decided to eject Casey with just eight seconds left, despite the coach not being the person who actually spoke to the referees.
Kyle Lowry couldn’t believe it, and even Brewer had a good laugh about that one.
Kyle Lowry and Dwane Casey can only laugh as Casey gets T'd & tossed for someone else yelling at the referee pic.twitter.com/CYgIo840bm
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) March 18, 2018
The NBA is going to have some explaining to do on that one. Officiating is still under fire in the NBA, with New Orleans Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry being the most recent coach to go off about the grey shirts.
I’m going to set a few alarms for when they release the L2M report Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the Thunder beat the Raptors, 132-125.
Oh, and the referees had to leave the floor in Toronto with a security detail.
Referees got a full security escort off the floor in Toronto pic.twitter.com/vCtuPEoQsB
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) March 18, 2018