The Lakers caught a big break in a win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday when officials granted LeBron James a timeout on a loose ball at a critical juncture of the game.
The win eliminated the Suns from the NBA’s in-season tournament and secured a spot in the semifinals for the Lakers, who advance to face the New Orleans Pelicans in Las Vegas Thursday.
The incident took place after an inbounds play with 11.2 seconds remaining and the Lakers leading, 105-103. James inbounded the ball from the baseline under the Lakers basket to Austin Reaves after a Kevin Durant layup that cut the Lakers lead to two points.
Devin Booker challenged Reaves, and Reaves lost control of the ball. Along the opposite sideline, James looked to referee Tom Washington pleading for a timeout. Washington granted one. But the ball was already loose. Washington shouldn’t have granted the timeout, but he had a better view of James’ call than the actual play on the opposite side of the court.
Suns assistants pleaded with Washington during the timeout for an explanation. But there was no recourse. Once Washington granted the timeout, that was that. The play’s not eligible for replay review or reversal.
Suns guard Grayson Allen would have had a chance to corral the loose ball without the errant timeout, which would have given the Suns possession of the ball with roughly 7 seconds remaining while trailing by two. Instead, the Lakers retained possession, and Anthony Davis hit a free throw after a foul on the other end to extend the Los Angeles lead to 106-103.
The Suns, out of timeouts, couldn’t advance the ball with a timeout after Davis missed the second of two free throws and Booker secured the rebound. Durant missed a rushed three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, and the Lakers won the game.
Not long after the final buzzer, Booker made his thoughts clear with a screenshot of the play on Instagram that shows the ball clearly loose while James signaled for a timeout.
The NBA and Adam Silver were looking to generate buzz with the new in-season tournament. It’s safe to say this isn’t the type of buzz they were seeking.
