With just 2.9 seconds left in regulation of last night's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Lakers guard Lonzo Ball was called for a shooting foul on Russell Westbrook. Westbrook was at the three-point line at the time so he was given three free throws. The score was 122-119 in favor of the Lakers at the time but Westbrook made all three shots to force overtime. It was questionable whether or not Westbrook had started his shooting motion when Ball made contact with him, so the Lakers were upset at the call.
When all was said and done, the Lakers went on to win the game 138-128, but there was still plenty of discussion as to why the foul was called in the first place. Even LeBron James, who is out with an injury, took to Twitter to question the call.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1086128261153775616
After the game, referee Tom Washington explained the decision to a reporter, according to ESPN.
"The official called the foul because at the time he thought Russell had started his shooting motion and he was clearly behind the 3-point line and there was illegal contact by Ball," Washington said. "And upon being able to see the review of the play, we realized that the illegal contact actually happened prior to his upward motion, so it should have been a side-out."
With the win, the Lakers improved to 25-21 on the season and are ranked eighth in the Western Conference.
