https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G74twsK_DWI
Much to the chagrin of Rasheed Wallace, the ball does lie every now and then.
For the latest proof of this, we go to the Summer League game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Toronto Raptors from Saturday night. The two teams faced off in the quarterfinals of the Vegas Summer League, and the game was tied at 79 heading into Minnesota’s final possession.
The ball was in the hands of second-year guard Tyus Jones, who pulled up from the corner and couldn’t hit a go-ahead jumper. Part of the reason he couldn’t hit said shot was that he stuck his leg out sideways, which made contact with Toronto’s Yanick Moreira and led to Jones heading to the free throw line.
Because the ball sometimes lie, Jones hit both free throws to put Minnesota ahead, 81-79. Toronto didn’t have enough time to do anything to win the game, so the Timberwolves advanced to the Vegas semifinals on the strength of those shots from the charity stripe. Well, they also advanced because Jones had a fairly solid game otherwise – 21 points, 8 assists, 3 steals – but those free throws sealed it.
On the all-time list of flops, this one is pretty high up there. It’s too bad that it happened during a Summer League game and not during a game of consequence, because if it was, we’d be talking about this flop for a long time.
