Friday night’s Timberwolves-Thunder game featured one of the wildest endings of the season, and Chris Paul’s keen eye and incredible game sense helped Oklahoma City pull off a wild comeback in regulation – though his tactics are getting him roasted on Twitter.
Timberwolves star Karl Anthony-Towns went to the free-throw line with Minnesota holding a two-point lead, 121-119, with 1.1 seconds remaining in the fourth. Towns missed the first free throw to give his team a three-point advantage, and before Towns’ second shot, teammate Jordan Bell checked into the game.
Bell, however, had not tucked in his jersey before coming onto the floor, which is a violation. Paul noticed Bell’s jersey, and immediately pointed him out to official Scott Foster. You can hear Paul over the broadcast yelling “his jersey’s untucked, that’s a delay of game.”
The call was only significant because it was the Timberwolves’ second delay of game violation, which triggered an automatic technical free throw for the Thunder. Danilo Gallinari hit the shot to make the score 121-120, but Towns still had a chance to effectively ice the game by simply missing his second free throw intentionally. Instead, Towns accidentally made his attempt, allowing Steven Adams to throw a miraculous pass from the baseline to set up a game-tying layup at the buzzer by Dennis Schröder.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander then took over the game in overtime, scoring 11 points in the period to lead Oklahoma City to a 139-127 win. After the game, Paul told reporters that he was aware that a second delay of game would gift his team a free throw, but that officials will often let the violation slide and not call it.
