The NBA has closed its investigation into Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie following a bizarre late-game foul in Tuesday night's 110-105 loss to the Golden State Warriors. However, they ruled in Christie’s favor.
Steve Kerr’s squad trailed by 16 points before making their comeback. After trailing for much of the game, the Kings briefly regained momentum late in the fourth quarter following a timeout.
With 3:15 left and Sacramento leading 101-100, Kings forward Doug McDermott intentionally fouled Seth Curry away from the ball. Since the Kings were in the penalty, Curry went to the line and hit one of two free throws to tie the game.
Then McDermott hit a three-pointer to give Sacramento a 104-101 lead with roughly 2:53 remaining, showing that the Kings were still very much in the game before the controversial ending.
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However, the Warriors finished the game on a 9-1 run, with Stephen Curry and Brandin Podziemski hitting back-to-back threes. And that marked Sacramento's 59th loss of the season.
But that controversial foul of McDermott to Seth started making rounds online with the word "tank." And Draymond Green didn't hold back after the final buzzer.
"I saw a team tonight foul Seth Curry with three minutes to go for no reason," Green said. "I get fined when I do wrong. Fine the hell out of people."
The league launched an investigation the next day. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Kings sources said Christie simply misread the rulebook. He thought he had a foul to give, which would have stopped the clock and saved a timeout before the three-minute mark
However, the investigation wrapped up quickly. According to the NBA's official statement reported by Charania, the league determined Christie mistakenly believed the Warriors were not in the penalty and instructed his team to foul in an attempt to stop the clock and use a timeout. The league found Christie made no intentional effort to give Golden State a shooting foul or cause the Kings to lose the game.
While the ruling clears Christie for now, the league is still cracking down on tanking. NBA owners will vote on new draft lottery rules on May 28 to stop teams from losing on purpose.
The Warriors are currently 37-42 and will host the 50-29 Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center at 7:00 p.m. PT. And then they head to Sacramento for a rematch against the Kings tonight.
