Late in the fourth quarter of Game 2 between the Spurs and the Grizzlies, San Antonio was clinging to a four-point lead with under 30 seconds remaining. Manu Ginobili was double-teamed by Zach Randolph and Tony Allen, and lost the ball to Randolph, who flipped it ahead to Allen for what was sure to be a layup that would have cut the lead to two.
Ginobili caught up with Allen, and did the right thing by committing a foul to make sure that the points would have to be earned at the free throw line. What Allen did following the foul was disgraceful, and may have helped the referees decide to rule it as a flagrant foul, which comes with it possession of the ball after the two free throw attempts.
As soon as Allen hits the deck, he lays on his back for a brief moment, before clutching his head and rolling around as though he were just shot. Replays show that neither his head nor his neck hit any part of the floor during the fall, and this was a clear acting job to try to sell the foul as being harder than it actually was.
The referees reviewed the play and upheld the flagrant foul call. The result was Allen sinking both free throws, and on the following possession which was awarded because of the flagrant, Mike Conley scored what turned out to be the final points of regulation with 18 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
It’s worth noting that this might have been ruled a flagrant foul even without Allen’s intentional exaggeration of the contact. Ginobili grabbed Allen’s off arm and pulled him to the floor, which the referees very well may have determined to be excessive in that situation. His flop after the fact certainly didn’t hurt his chances, although it would be nice to see the league recognize this for what it was and give him a fine for his actions.
The Grizzlies were just 2-of-12 from the field in the overtime session, and the Spurs got the 93-89 win to take a 2-0 lead in the series.