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 left in the third quarter of an NBA Finals Game 5 at Frost Bank Center that the New York Knicks eventually won to claim their first championship in 53 years, 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.
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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 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 had ramifications if the Spurs won and extended the series to six games. The NBA would have reviewed the play and determined whether it warranted a retroactive flagrant foul. If the league decided it did, it would have been Wembanyama’s fourth flagrant point of the playoffs. That would mean the Defensive Player of the Year would have been 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 finals after he elbowed Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns in the chin.
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Wembanyama escaped Saturday night’s incident without even being called for a foul.
Was it a foul?
That could have been the biggest question coming out of Game 5 — had the Knicks not won.
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 have been suspended for Game 6 because he had already 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.
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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 historically has the final say on this type of 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 would have been possible the league could have upgraded the play, which would have put Wembanyama’s availability for Game 6 into question. Instead, the Knicks prevailed to win their first championship since 1973. — John Hollinger, senior NBA writer