Jalen Green hit a pair of free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining to help the Houston Rockets topple the Golden State Warriors for the first time since February 2020, winning their NBA Cup quarterfinal 91-90.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was furious about the foul that was called against forward Jonathan Kuminga, which sent Green to the charity stripe for the game-winning shots.
“I’ve never seen a loose-ball foul on a jump-ball situation 80 feet from the basket with the game on the line,” the 59-year-old said postgame.
“That is unconscionable,” he added.
After Steph Curry missed a 3-point attempt, Gary Payton II tracked down the offensive rebound and tried to throw the ball to Curry while on the floor. Rockets guard Fred VanVleet poked the ball away into the hands of a diving Green. Kuminga tried to wrestle the ball from Green but was called for a loose-ball infraction by veteran referee Bill Kennedy.
“This is a billion-dollar industry. You’ve got people’s jobs on the line. I am stunned,” a flabbergasted Kerr said.
He added: “I feel for our guys. Our guys battled back, played their asses off, and deserved to win that game, or at least have a chance for one stop at the end to finish the game. And that was taken from us by a call that I don’t think an elementary school referee would have made because that guy would have had feel.”
Alperen Sengun tallied a game-high 26 points to help Houston snap its 15-game losing streak against the Warriors. Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field.
Golden State was held scoreless for the final 3:03 of the game and had 22 turnovers.
Warriors guard Buddy Hield surpassed 2,000 career 3-pointers after knocking down three triples in the game. He finished with 15 points. Kuminga scored a team-high 20 to go along with seven rebounds.
The 17-8 Rockets will head to Las Vegas to play the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday in the semifinals.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks will face off in the other semifinal.
The 14-10 Warriors won’t play again until Dec. 19 when they travel to Memphis to play the Grizzlies.
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