OKC Thunder in the news: Carmelo Anthony ejection prompts outrage from OKC

Just nine games into the OKC Thunder season it’s hard to pick which opponent has been more formidable the Northwest Division or the referees.

Maybe the OKC Thunder just shouldn’t play on Sunday. With a mere nine games to their credit and three weekends of play OKC have played twice on Sunday and both times the officials had a hand in the outcome. The first incident cost the Thunder a game they had won when refs  failed to called an illegal screen by Karl-Anthony Towns on Paul George.

OKC Thunder lose game on missed call:

Whether that missed call would have changed the game’s outcome is uncertain, but odds are the Thunder would have been victorious.

Last night, the Thunder again lost a game in the clutch and the question on everyone’s lips was could they have pulled out the win if Carmelo Anthony were in the game. This latter question arises because Anthony was ejected on a flagrant foul 2 call.

Second Sunday – same result:

Anthony ejected:

Did Anthony foul Jusuf Nurkic – yes. Was it flagrant – based on how the league deems head hits – absolutely. To wit, the NBA clearly has a mandate to protect players, especially their heads. So, when Anthony’s elbow hit Nurkic that was egregious enough to merit a flagrant foul. But, was it worthy of a flagrant 2?

Overall it wasn’t a great day for officials who also tossed Kyle Lowry out of the Raptors – Wizards game for words to a young official. Toronto fans are up in arms over this ejection with many questioning whether another team’s All-Star would receive such a quick hook on their home court for ‘words’.  Like the Thunder the team up North has suffered their fair share of end of game missed calls and early this season I’ve witnessed three Raptors leave the court blood dripping from their faces without calls made (in fact one of those players was the one assessed the foul).

But, I digress – after the match the OKC Thunder were understandably seeking clarification.  In the process several players (Russell Westbrook/Paul George) and coach Billy Donovan may be sporting lighter wallets for criticism of the officials.

Officials explanation:

https://twitter.com/16WinsARing/status/927408070598180865

Post game outrage:

Brett Dawson of NewsOK provided the post game comments from the players and coach. While Anthony expected to be tossing free throws, after review, instead he was ejected for the head contact. Post game comments centered on the fact Westbrook was hit in the face and even with Donovan requesting review the Thunder were denied the same courtesy.

Click the above link to read what George and Anthony had to say about what they are now deeming clear bias from officials toward the OKC Thunder.

"Thunder coach Billy Donovan said he’d “never seen in the history of the game a guy get an and-one play and then get ejected from the game.”Donovan said he’d asked for a review of a play at the 6:35 mark of the third quarter, when Westbrook appeared to be accidentally hit in the face and had been denied.“I thought that play should’ve been reviewed,” Donovan said. “It may have proven nothing, but I think when someone gets hit in the face and goes down to the floor and you gotta call a timeout, you should at least review it just to make sure. I don’t know why they reviewed the other one. Maybe whoever it was, Nurkic, whoever it was, stayed down longer. I probably didn’t ask Russell to stay down on the court long enough to get it reviewed.”"

Russell Westbrook sounds off:

NBA is vastly different from other major league sports:

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I know it’s considered inappropriate to comment about officiating. But honestly why is the NBA the only league where that’s the case?  I  recognize officials are going to make mistakes. However, until the NBA changes the process this is just going to keep happening.

Too often NBA officials have an impact on game outcomes. Go watch the Cavaliers – Hawks game and notice the difference in how the officials called the final frame. What other league can officials change how they call a game mid-way through it?  Atlanta held on for the win, but several fouls were called against the Hawks for push offs – something LeBron James has patented and rarely is called for doing.

Imagine if the NHL allowed two periods of hooking, tripping and holding and changed for the final period. Likewise, if the NFL allowed teams to go offside, interference through three quarters and switched for the fourth quarter. Obviously this is a dramatic spin, but it’s not far off how many NBA games are called.

Furthermore, putting a player in early foul trouble serves to remove them from the game. Even if referees could be consistent in how they called the game it would go a long way to improving the on court product.

Reggie tosses in  his two cents:

And, this isn’t just one person’s opinion, nor simply a fan base up in arms. Noted former player and TV analyst Reggie Miller made his comments known immediately.

Time to add coaches challenge is now:

The irony is the team who takes the hit, often suffers further repercussions for speaking out about it.  No doubt Westbrook, Donovan and potentially George will all be fined for what they said post game.  The question is what happens to the officials who blew the call which cost the Thunder the game against the T-Wolves? And, what happens to Sunday’s crew who refused to review the hit to Westbrook? As far as we know nothing.

Adam Silver needs to address this issue immediately, because it’s hurting the game.  I’ve long been an advocate for calling the game as it occurs. If a rookie makes a good play reward them- don’t simply give the call to the player with more experience.

And, here’s a novel idea- why not implement a challenge system?  The NBA is the only major league sport without one. Give coaches two challenges per game or per half and like tennis as long as the challenge proves correct they get to keep them.  At least that way the error could be corrected in game. What purpose does the 2-minute report do because it certainly doesn’t change the win-loss column. Great, you’re sorry you blew the call – but when home court seeds are on the line and a team loses by one point what good does that blown call do the team?

Bottom line, it’s  time the Association cleaned up their act, by ensuring consistency on both sides and more transparency. Why not immediately implement the challenge rule? Why is the NBA so dead set against doing what every other major league sport does in this regard? If Silver implemented an in game  challenge system at least then a team could recognize the benefit of the result.

Blazers provide motivation for January 9:

Moving forward the Portland Trail Blazers threw out some shade via a tweet post game. The fact they are comparing their Big 3 to the OK3 is slightly laughable given Anthony didn’t finish the game. Hey, perhaps the Blazers have become the Wizards of the West.

That brings In the news for November 6 to a close. Hope you have an amazing start to your week. Make sure to interact with us on twitter and check back with Thunderous Intentions daily for all things about your favorite team and players.