The Los Angeles Clippers were on the wrong end of a head-scratching call Friday during their game against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo.
Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr airballed a three-pointer from the right wing midway through the fourth quarter. The ball sailed out of bounds along the baseline, with one referee already prepared to give the Clippers possession.
Hardaway was in serious pain after his miss. He argued to officials that Clippers wing Jordan Miller closed out too hard, leaving him no space to land properly after the shot attempt. Somehow, the referees decided to review the call for a flagrant foul despite no foul initially being called.
Tim Hardaway Jr. airballs the 3-point shot out of bounds and lands on Jordan Miller's foot (with replays).
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) January 31, 2026
The referees call a replay review to check for a 'hostile act' and end up giving 3 free throws (no flagrant).
Ty Lue cannot understand how they can review for a flagrant… pic.twitter.com/T4IbamqlC6
Even the Nuggets’ announcing crew didn’t understand how the officials could possibly review the play given the circumstances.
“If you don’t call a foul, how do you call a flagrant?” Nuggets color analyst Scott Hastings said as referees reviewed the play. “I’ll just say it, since no one else will. This crew’s struggled a little bit. Just throwing it out there.”
The referees eventually deemed that Miller’s contest was not worthy of a flagrant foul, instead assessing him with a common shooting foul. Hardaway was awarded and connected on three free throws to extend the Nuggets’ lead to 100-93. Clippers fans were understandably fuming over the strange call.
That is a ridiculous call with massive implications.
— Farbod Esnaashari (@Farbod_E) January 31, 2026
How can you go back and call a foul without a challenge?? You can’t go back and call a flagrant foul on a play where you didn’t make a call. Clippers were cheated
— Stephone (@Skinnybra) January 31, 2026
I know we have to expect bad calls, but that foul call on Miller was UNBELIEVABLE.
— Monique Señeres (@MoniqueJSeneres) January 31, 2026
a) Miller stepped out of Hardaway Jr.’s landing space; b) they didn’t even call the foul; c) officials decided to review the play; and THEN d) THE BAD CALL.
Clippers vs. Nuggets and REFS
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The Clippers were in the midst of a furious 13-2 rally before the tide-turning call made against Miller. Had no call been made, LAC would have had a chance to cut the game to a single possession with a made basket. Instead, Denver took control of the game with a 19-5 run over the next four minutes.
The Nuggets won 122-109 in Nikola Jokic’s first game back after missing 16 straight games recovering from a knee injury.
