The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Chicago Bulls in double-overtime last night, thanks in large part to a boneheaded foul by Kirk Hinrich as the final seconds ticked off the clock in regulation.
The Bulls had a foul to give with 4.2 seconds left in the game, and coach Tom Thibodeau wanted them to give it. But considering they were leading 108-105 at the time, he didn’t want Hinrich to give the foul when a Mavs player was in the act of shooting. That’s exactly what Hinrich did.
Hinrick waited until Monta Ellis got past half court and bumped him. Ellis wisely heaved the ball up when he realized Hinrich was about to foul him. Dirk Nowitzki summed the play up perfectly after the game.
“In my 17 years, it was one of the dumber fouls I’ve ever seen,” Nowitzki said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. “You wait all the way until he dribbles to the 3-point line to grab him, so that’s obviously a tough one, tough play. I saw coach [Tom] Thibodeau was just shaking his head.”
Ellis hit all three free throws and the Mavs went on to win. Thibodeau tried to take the blame by saying he should have been more specific about where he wanted his team to commit the foul, but Hinrich wasn’t having it.
“I waited too long. I messed it up,” he said. “It was a bonehead play. I know better than that. This one’s on me because I felt like we played a good game to that point. To get back to the point we were in a position to win. For them to tie it up on a play like that, it was a bad decision.”
Come on, Dirk. The man knows he screwed up. No need to rub it in.
