De’Aaron Fox went straight for Elon Musk’s app after Saturday’s loss.
The Kings guard Fox was electric in a seesaw affair against the Los Angeles Lakers in Sacramento. He poured in 34 points (including 17 in the fourth quarter) capped off by a game-tying midrange jumper with 7.1 seconds left.
But it all went south for the Kings on their final defensive possession. Fox was whistled for a foul with 3.1 seconds remaining after bumping Lakers guard Dennis Schroder during a desperation drive to the basket. While the Kings challenged the call, they were unsuccessful in getting it overturned. Schroder, an 89.0 percent free throw shooter this season, sank both foul shots, and the Lakers hung on to win 136-134.
This foul call was upheld after review 😳 pic.twitter.com/baXbomtxqe
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 8, 2023
Fox took to Twitter to vent his frustrations after. In a since-deleted tweet, Fox wrote, “Thought we were suppose to let the players decide the game.”
De’Aaron Fox deleted this tweet. pic.twitter.com/9hHHRDjHae
— Lakers Lead (@LakersLead) January 8, 2023
It was indeed a rough ending for the Kings, who did just about everything right on that final sequence, including getting the ball out of LeBron James’ hands and staying home on the Lakers’ shooters. While that may have been a foul by the strict definition of the rules, letting the referees determine such a close game like that makes for a generally bad policy and viewing product.
Lakers fans also had a gripe with the officiating down the stretch however. With 18.2 seconds left, Russell Westbrook was not given continuation after an intentional foul by Sacramento. With the Lakers up 133-132 at the time, Westbrook should have gotten an automatic two points with a chance for one more. Instead, he just got two free throws, splitting the pair, and allowing Fox to tie the game with a two-pointer on the next play.
The refs ruled this Russell Westbrook dunk a non-shooting foul.
Good call or bad call? 🤔pic.twitter.com/a7ONYRJdWI
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 8, 2023
Even with the loss, Fox and the Kings are still having a solid season at 20-18 (which is good for fifth in the West). Perhaps this was the universe’s way of evening out the score after the Kings narrowly escaped with a last-second win earlier in the week.
