The Los Angeles Lakers eliminating the Phoenix Suns from the NBA In-Season Tournament with a 106-103 victory yesterday did not come up without controversy.
Here is how the controversial sequence unfolded: Kevin Durant had just cut the deficit to two on a nice layup. Both Devin Booker and Durant had five fouls, and they did not a good job of trapping not fouling Austin Reaves on the ensuing Lakers’ inbound. Reaves coughed up the ball, but LeBron James appeared to be granted a timeout while it was loose with seven seconds remaining. Grayson Allen would have had an easy layup had the timeout not been awarded.