The Portland Trail Blazers faced the Oklahoma City Thunder, in stark contrast to the way they performed in the previous meeting, in which they suffered a 62-point defeat. In fact, at the last gasp of the game, the Blazers were in position to win the game after Anfernee Simons scored a three-point basket to give Portland a 109-106 lead.
Unfortunately, what followed for the Blazers was a really bad mistake by the referees. After allowing the Thunder to pull to within one thanks to a basket by Jalen Williams, OKC’s forced a double dribble by Malcolm Brogdon.. But the action was not without controversy.
Blazers coach Chauncey Billups was enraged after officials failed to call timeout despite his fervent protests. As a result, Billups got two technical fouls in quick succession, forcing him to be ejected. This gave the Thunder a chance to win the game with a final score of 111 to 109.
Chauncey Billups has been ejected from the game 😬 pic.twitter.com/4Fmkc6tTJC
– Ahn Fire Digital (@AhnFireDigital) January 24, 2024
Blazers fans are furious because it seemed clear that the Portland contingent was asking for a break in the action during the double play on Brogdon. An angle of the action shows that Billups was, in fact, calling for a timeout well before the official called an infraction on the veteran guard.
ej3fwefew pic.twitter.com/q20pyOWgsn
– CyrusTheVirus (@CyrusTheVirusP) January 24, 2024
Some argue that the responsibility for calling the timeout lay with Malcolm Brogdon and other Blazers players. After all, it was clear that Brogdon was still in possession of the ball and could have called a timeout if it crossed his mind in a pressure situation.
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