Every day in the NBA there is a lot to unpack, so every weekday morning throughout the season we will give you the three things you need to know from the last 24 hours in the NBA.
1) Is James Harden’s phantom dunk enough to get the final minutes of the Rockets’ loss replayed? In the end, I expect the Rockets will end up disappointed — and when they do they will have nobody but themselves to blame. This Rockets’ double-overtime loss is not going to get replayed.
Still, Houston has a unique argument, and it starts here: The referees blew the call on this dunk by James Harden with 7:50 left the fourth quarter.
The refs really didn't count this Harden dunk 🤔 pic.twitter.com/tkpFWpqu9f
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 4, 2019
This is why the NBA has replay and a coach’s challenge… except the officials on the court would not let D’Antoni make a challenge.
D'Antoni said he was initially told the Harden dunk hit him and was offensive goaltending. He said he challenged that and was told no, it was not goaltending but went out off Harden, so he challenged that. Officials, D'Antoni said, told him he could not challenge.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) December 4, 2019
Goaltending and out of bounds plays can be challenged, but the explanation by the lead official James Capers after the game is D’Antoni took too long to make his challenge.
Transcript: NBA Referee James Capers Comments to Pool Reporter after Rockets – Spurs game. pic.twitter.com/rVD6HF9Tca
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) December 4, 2019
I’m not buying that, even though the timing issue is likely what the league falls back on to retain the game’s outcome. Capers mentions basket interference, but that was never the call on the court, it was ruled a missed basket. This sounds like Capers trying to cover for his guys. It clearly took time for the referees to figure out what happened and explain their call to D’Antoni, which is when the coach said he made the challenge. The 30-second rule is being used as a cover.
This gets to the interesting questions: What happens if the Rockets protest the game? Will they even have to?
Rockets weighing protesting the game, source said. Only thing holding them back is it might not be necessary because a made basket did not count in which case the NBA could step in. (FWIW, points were put on the scoreboard. Don't know if they were in the official book.)
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) December 4, 2019
The bad news for the Rockets is we have seen how the league handles blown calls through the Last Two Minute Report: They admit the mistake but change nothing.
There is zero chance the league just puts the points back on the board and gives the Rockets a regulation win. How the game played out late (in terms of strategy and more) would have been different if the Rockets were ahead by two. The league could order the end of the game replayed, but in the past have chosen not to do so even after owning up to a missed call. This is different in that it’s a clear missed call on a basket that took two points off the board, but still this is not how the league has handled situations in the past.
If this goes down as a loss — 135-133 in double overtime — the Rockets shouldn’t blame the officials, they need to blame themselves. And only themselves.
Houston was up 20 with 3:23 left in the third and by 10 with 3:53 left in the fourth but, as has followed a pattern with this team, could not hold the lead. They lost defensive focus. James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined to shoot 26.5 percent (18-of-68). Whether or not they let the lousy call get in their heads, the Rockets played terribly down the stretch.
Lonnie Walker IV played well and had his best NBA game, keying that Houston comeback. Walker finished with a career-high 28 points and scored 18 of those points in the fourth quarter — including eight straight to close the game and force overtime. DeMar DeRozan added 23 points, nine assists, and five rebounds.
2) Anthony Davis plays through flu, scores 25, but it’s his defense late that gets Lakers win in Denver. After the Lakers got their heads handed to them by Luka Doncic and the Mavericks on Sunday, the theme in the L.A. locker room postgame was that the Lakers needed to play a full 48 minutes — not flip the switch in the third quarter — against the better teams. Like the Denver game coming up.
Anthony Davis did just that. Battling the flu that had him in bed all day before the game — then taking IV fluids at halftime just to keep going — Davis had 25 points. However, it was his defensive plays late that earned the Lakers the win: There was a stuff block of Nikola Jokic, but more impressive was when Davis twice got switched onto point guard Jamal Murray late and was able to stay in front of the speedy guard and force him into bad shots.
Jokic has been up-and-down this season and Tuesday night was a down, with Davis (along with JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard) holding the Denver big man to 13 points on 12 shots.
LeBron James also added 25 points.
The Nuggets have been one of the best clutch teams in the NBA this season (8-4 in games within five points in the final five minutes), but the Lakers were better and outdueled them down the stretch in this one (L.A. is now 9-1 in those five-in-five clutch games).
For those who doubt the Nuggets as a real threat to the Los Angeles teams in the playoffs, Tuesday was more fuel for the fire.
3) Jimmy Butler’s triple-double leads upstart Heat past Raptors in overtime. In a number of fundamental ways, when Miami plays Toronto it’s like looking in a mirror.
These are two franchises that emphasize culture first. They each have stars that have worked their way up — Jimmy Butler for Miami and Pascal Siakam for Toronto — and were not just anointed top picks. These are two franchises that find guys other teams overlook and turn them into valuable contributors — three undrafted players started in this game, Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson for Miami, and Fred VanVleet for Toronto.
Also, both teams are now 15-5 on the season after Miami held on to beat Toronto in overtime, 121-110. The difference was Jimmy Butler, who scored 8 of his 22 points in overtime on his way to a triple-double.
This is what Miami needs from Butler. Some are calling for Butler to score more and lift up the Heat offense that way, but this kind of game — where he distributes and gets others involved, then takes over when he needs to — is exactly what the Heat need out of him. More games like this will mean more wins.
