НБА-гийн финалын тав дахь тоглолтын үеэр Виктор Вембаньямагийн гаргасан алдаатай үйлдлийн улмаас Жэйлен Брансон бэртэл авч, шүүгчид болон Нью-Йорк Никс багийн дасгалжуулагч Майк Браун нар эгдүүцлээ илэрхийллээ.
Гуравдугаар үеийн төгсгөлд гурван онооны шидэлт гүйцэтгэсэн Жэйлен Брансоны буух зам руу Виктор Вембаньяма хөлөө хийснээр Брансон шагайгаа эвгүй гишгэсэн юм. Шүүгч Тайлер Форд энэ үйлдлийг алдаа гэж үзээгүй бөгөөд улмаар Сан-Антонио Спөрс довтолгоог амжилттай болгож, 62-53-ын харьцаатайгаар тэргүүлж эхэлсэн билээ.
Хэрэв цуврал зургаа дахь тоглолт хүртэл үргэлжилбэл НБА-гийн удирдлага уг үйл явдлыг дахин нягталж, Виктор Вембаньямад сахилгын шийтгэл оноох эсэхээ шийдвэрлэнэ. Хэрэв лиг үүнийг бүдүүлэг алдаа гэж үзвэл Виктор Вембаньяма өмнө нь хуримтлуулсан онооны улмаас дараагийн тоглолтыг өнжих эрсдэлтэй байна.
Шинжээч Жон Холлингерын дүгнэснээр, Жэйлен Брансон хөлөө урагш сунгаж шидэлт гүйцэтгэсэн нь тодорхой байгаа тул шүүгч алдаа өгөөгүй байх талтай. Гэсэн хэдий ч лигийн зүгээс бичлэгт үндэслэн торгуулийн оноог нэмэх бүрэн эрхтэй тул Нью-Йорк Никс цувралд ялалт байгуулж, Ларри О’Брайений цомыг гардах эсэх нь тодорхойгүй хэвээр байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
An incredulous Jalen Brunson could not believe he hadn’t heard a whistle. And he let official Tyler Ford know it.
Seconds earlier, with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center, he stepped into a contested 3-pointer in front of San Antonio Spurs star center Victor Wembanyama. Wembanyama’s foot clearly slid into Brunson’s landing zone, causing Brunson to twist his ankle upon landing.
No call was made.
Brunson got up and limped back down the court as Spurs forward Devin Vassell sprinted into a 3-pointer of his own, eliminating the New York Knicks’ opportunity to challenge the play and putting the Spurs up 62-53. Still, Brunson and Knicks head coach Mike Brown gave Ford and the officiating crew a piece of their mind during the brief stoppage.
While San Antonio escaped unscathed, the play could have ramifications moving forward if the Spurs win. Should the series extend to six games, the NBA will review the play and determine whether it warrants a retroactive flagrant foul. If the league decides it does, it would be Wembanyama’s fourth flagrant point of the playoffs. That would mean the MVP candidate and Defensive Player of the Year would be suspended for Game 6 in New York.
The star received his first two flagrant points for an elbow to the throat of Minnesota Timberwolves big man Naz Reid in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals. He was assessed a Flagrant 2 on the floor and ejected. His third flagrant point came in Game 4 of the NBA Finals after he elbowed Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns in the chin.
Wembanyama escaped Saturday night’s incident without even being called for a foul. However, if he can help his team stave off elimination and extend the series, he’ll still have to survive the NBA’s postgame review.
Up 3-1, however, if the Knicks beat the Spurs in San Antonio, then all of this will be rendered moot, and Brunson will be handed the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Was it a foul?
That is the biggest question coming out of Game 5.
This type of “landing zone” contact is typically called a foul on the defense, and both Brown and Brunson were furious that one wasn’t called.
However, there is a second, more important layer to this. More egregious fouls of this nature, deemed reckless by officials, can also be ruled flagrant fouls.
The significance of a flagrant foul is that Wembanyama could be suspended for Game 6 because he already has accumulated three flagrant-foul points during the playoffs.
The national TV crew of Mike Breen, Richard Jefferson and Tim Legler seemed to feel pretty strongly that it was a flagrant foul, but I’m less certain.
When Brunson first pulled up for the shot, he was well behind the 3-point line, and Wembanyama was jumping slightly toward him, but was still several feet away.
Brunson then began to extend his left leg. A lot.
It’s an unnatural motion, yes, but it’s also a common one from shooters trying to protect their bodies (James Harden is notorious for it). Officials historically have given players leeway to make this move as long as they don’t kick a defender in the shins, and if the shooter lands on the defender’s foot, as happened here, the result is usually a shooting foul.
In this case, the closest official, Ford, opted not to call any foul at all. As the teams went to a timeout, Ford could be seen pointing to his own left leg and kicking it outward as he explained the ruling to a furious Brown.
Finally, when Brunson landed, his left foot came down well ahead of his body and landed on Wembanyama’s foot, which had already returned to the floor.
Again, this type of play would not normally be called a dangerous or reckless closeout, terms typically reserved for plays in which a defender goes completely underneath a shooter and gives him virtually no place to land. In this case, Brunson had plenty of room but extended his left leg into the area where the contact occurred.
To be clear, the league will have the final say on this play. The NBA has the authority to upgrade (or downgrade) flagrant and technical fouls based on video review. So even though no flagrant was called during the game, it remains possible the league could upgrade the play, which would put Wembanyama’s availability for Game 6 into question. — John Hollinger, senior NBA writer
