Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards fell short in Game 1 of their best-of-seven series against the Philadelphia 76ers. But one play late in the fourth quarter garnered buzz among fans and the internet.
Westbrook tried to gather a lose ball after a Daniel Gafford rebound. Westbrook appeared to toe-tap the sidelines as he gained control of the basketball. However, the official didn’t see it that way and called Westbrook out of bounds as it appeared he stepped on the line with his hand on the basketball.
With the play occurring under two minutes at 37.1 seconds, the call was reviewable. After deliberation the call on the court stood, a Wizards turnover. It was a crucial call that essentially wrapped up the game as the Wizards trailed 121-116.
Following the 125-118 loss, Westbrook had a subtle but perfect response to the questionable call.
Both of Westbrook’s statements were absolutely correct. It is what it is and it doesn’t matter now whether or not the officials got the call right.
Justification won’t change the outcome of the game. Washington is down 1-0 to the No. 1 seed in the East. The turnover was his sixth and goes into the pile of costly mistakes that did the Wizards in Sunday in Philadelphia.
Yes, the Wizards had a fighter’s chance before Westbrook’s turnover with 37.1 seconds. But realistically the game was already trending towards the outcome that became. Washington did get the ball right back with a Joel Embiid turnover with 24.5 seconds left.
Unfortunately, Westbrook missed a three and Embiid gobbled the rebound putting a bow on the game.
Wizards head coach Scott Brooks didn’t want to criticize the referees but he pointed out he didn’t think Westbrook was out of bounds.
“The camera angle I saw, it was like the Sean Elliott play,” Brooks said, per Fred Katz of the Athletic. “They obviously looked at a bunch of different angles and they called what they called.”
If one wants to blame it on Westbrook, then you can go back to his two turnovers earlier in the fourth quarter on back-to-back possessions.
The first happened with about four-and-a-half minutes remaining. Westbrook tried to dribble through traffic, but Tobias Harris, who scored 37 points, was able to get the steal. Philadelphia flipped the turnover into a transition three from Danny Green that extended their lead to 115-106.
On the ensuing possession, the Wizards got an offensive rebound off an Embiid block on Bradley Beal. However, Westbrook lost the ball to Harris again. The Wizards got a stop on that fastbreak but it took a chunk off the clock, as they were chasing the scoreboard.
Westbrook didn’t play his best game. Often times he grew frustrated with the missed chances. He finished with a modest 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting. He had 14 assists but the 76ers size limited “Mr. Triple-double” to five rebounds. He added six turnovers and four fouls.
All of that doesn’t matter now. The Wizards will look to clean up the mistakes and get ready for Game 2 on Wednesday night.
