Game 2 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs was a dramatic affair even before the final 13.5 seconds, the kind of game that the playoffs promise every season. Those final 13.5, however, were on a whole other level, and it all started with Dion Waiters’ inbound play. Waiters shoved Manu Ginobili while inbounding the ball, which was inexplicably allowed. The refs even admitted as much. But Manu stepped on the out-of-bounds line, as well, a technical foul that went unnoticed.
Dion Waiters sitting at his locker, scrolling through his phone postgame: "He stepped on the line anyway"
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) May 3, 2016
Time was even allowed to run off the clock before Kevin Durant touched the ball:
https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/727406580417724417
The Waiters shove might have gotten all the headlines, but it wasn’t even the craziest thing to happen before the clock ran out. Steven Adams had a brilliant close-out to rush Patty Mills’ three-point attempt from the corner, but before he could run back in to crash the boards, a fan grabbed his arm:
A Spurs fan grabbed Steven Adams’ arm on the final possession. Wow. (via @NBATV) https://t.co/tn1lTZ52BX
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 3, 2016
I’m not sure there’s even a protocol for assessing penalties on a home team for its fans interfering with the game, and you can’t really fault the refs for missing this, considering the scrum that was going on under the basket, but my best guess is this would have been a technical foul, considering that’s the call with the broadest scope. But that’s underselling how ludicrous the moment was.
Seriously, a young female fan went vigilante and prevented Adams from getting off the sideline for a couple of seconds! Adams looked like he wanted to sock the fan, and honestly it’s hard to blame him (and easy to praise his restraint). It could have been an irrational move in the heat of the moment, but there’s no excuse — you shouldn’t have to be taught as a fan not to pull stunts like this.
