Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick was crying foul after the Timberwolves’ 116-113 victory over his team Sunday in Game 4 of an NBA first-round playoff series at Target Center.
With 35.5 seconds to play, Redick believed Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels fouled Luka Doncic with the Lakers down by one point. Doncic fell down without a call after stepping on McDaniels’ foot, and instead of two free throws, the Lakers called a timeout to maintain possession.
They had to inbound the ball in the backcourt with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. McDaniels then stole the inbound pass.
“Luka got tripped. That was a blatant trip,” Redick said. “He doesn’t just fall on his own. We should have been at the free-throw line. He got fouled.”
The NBA’s two-minute report agreed with Redick and said Doncic should have been on the free-throw line with his team trailing 114-113.
In their report, released Monday, the league said McDaniels “steps forward into Doncic’s path, initiating illegal foot contact that causes him to lose his balance.”
On the Wolves’ next possession, they used a challenge after officials on the floor ruled LeBron James swiped the ball out of Anthony Edwards’ hands and it went out off Edwards. The Wolves challenged the call to say James fouled Edwards and that action caused the ball to go out of bounds.
The Wolves won the challenge, and the two-minute report confirmed that the overturn was the correct call, saying James made illegal contact on Edwards’ wrist.
