Thunder vs. Mavericks: Referee explains controversial foul call on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in final seconds - CBSSports.com

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The Dallas Mavericks advanced to the Western Conference finals on Saturday in one of the most exciting games of the season. Despite trailing by as many as 17 points, the Mavericks came all the way back to stun the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of their second-round series, but the win didn't come without a bit of controversy.

The Thunder took the lead back at 116-115 with roughly 20 seconds remaining thanks to a lob from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Chet Holmgren. With the game on the line, P.J. Washington prepared to fire up a 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining. It initially looked as though Gilgeous-Alexander had blocked the shot, but he was whistled for a foul. Ultimately, that foul held up on replay. 

Washington made his first two free throws to give Dallas the lead, and then intentionally missed the third to prevent the Thunder from setting up their own shot in the final seconds. Dallas ultimately won, 117-116.

Foul called on the Thunder on this play with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and PJ Washington. Good or bad call? 🤔pic.twitter.com/KCcJGbGepI

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 19, 2024

Even after the game ended, fans wondered how Gilgeous-Alexander could be called for a foul on a shot that he seemed to make contact with before hitting Washington. Crew chief Tony Brothers explained the call in the post-game pool report.

"During the review we saw that Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) initially starts on the ball, but then he slides off of it and clearly makes illegal contact with (P.J.) Washington's arm while he still has control of the ball and is in the act of shooting," Brothers said. "Since the ball was not dislodged by the contact, the ensuing contact to the arm is illegal. Had the ball been dislodged when Shai hit it, the contact afterwards would have been deemed marginal, which did not happen here."

Essentially, the call came down to the fact that while Gilgeous-Alexander did make contact with the ball, he didn't block a shot that had left Washington's hands. The release didn't come until after Gilgeous-Alexander had made contact with Washington, which ultimately affected the shot's trajectory. And so, Oklahoma City goes home on one of the closer calls of the season, and Dallas advances to face either the Denver Nuggets or Minnesota Timberwolves.