SUMMARY
- The referees fail to acknowledge Luka Doncic's offensive foul on Karl-Anthony Towns but rewards the Timberwolves center with a defensive violation instead.
- Fans call out the referees for failing to catch onto Luka's controversial shot.
Luka Doncic has been the best player in the Western Conference Finals this season. He managed to get the Dallas Mavericks to a 3-0 lead in the series but Game 4 was a little underwhelming in several ways. What the Mavericks lacked was energy, and that unfortunately resulted in a slower offense. But the game somehow came down to the wire and the Minnesota Timberwolves narrowly escaped a sweep.
During one point of the game, Doncic executed a play that should’ve been called an offensive foul. The 25-year-old leaned into Karl-Anthony Towns who was defending him at the time. Fans quickly caught onto the play and spammed social media with comments calling out Game 4’s officials.
I thought the NBA banned this move…. pic.twitter.com/mizymNcL59
— Ev (@EvInFour) May 29, 2024
They did.
If that could be reviewed it would have been overturned.
— Unoffensiveman🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇱🇺🇸 (@UNOFFENSIVEMAN) May 29, 2024
“I thought the NBA banned this move,” one fan said. Another fan chimed in, “They did. If that could be reviewed it would have been overturned.” Unfortunately, KAT was rewarded with a defensive foul and the Timberwolves couldn’t challenge the call either.
How did Karl-Anthony Towns’ actions negate Luka Doncic’s possible offensive foul call?
There is only one explanation as to why the referees chose to call the foul on Towns and not on Luka Doncic. A few years ago, the NBA banned a move that allowed the ball handler to lean into defenders to draw contact and a foul. Take a look at this video to better understand what players aren’t allowed to do anymore.
The non-basketball move highlighted in this segment shows a shooter launching or leaning into a defender at an abnormal angle. pic.twitter.com/4bChPtIHWI
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) September 30, 2021
As you can see, the defenders in this video weren’t anywhere near the shooter’s landing space. But in Towns’ case, he reacted to Doncic’s ball fake and planted his feet right under the Mavericks guard’s feet. That is an automatic foul on the defense. Doncic didn’t catch much lift either which makes his case a bit lighter.
Luka Doncic takes the fall for the Mavericks’ Game 4 loss
Overall, the Mavericks did have a chance to close out the game or tie it towards the end of the fourth quarter. Luka Doncic executed a four-point play on Anthony Edwards but missed the free throw attempt. Dallas could’ve jumped in for the offensive board but they chose to foul the Timberwolves, resulting in a timeout. Doncic took full responsibility claiming he could’ve played with more energy.
He said, “I think that game was one me. I just didn’t give enough energy. So, we gotta do better. They won one game, we gotta focus on the next one.” Doncic wasn’t all that bad on the floor as he finished with 28 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. However, the rest of the team couldn’t get it going on offense. Losing Dereck Lively II was also a huge miss for the Mavericks’ bench.