Add the officiating on the finish of the Toronto Raptors-Denver Nuggets recreation Monday night time into the binder of criticism referees have confronted this season. With the Raptors down by one level with 30 seconds left, Toronto ahead Scottie Barnes was inexplicably ejected on one technical foul by head official Scott Foster. Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was irate, Barnes was totally confused, however Foster was adamant that the second-year ahead wanted to move again to the locker room for the rest of the sport.
The ejection got here after Jakob Poeltl was referred to as for a foul on Aaron Gordon. As Foster was strolling to the scorers desk to sign who the foul was on, he shortly rotated and hit Barnes with a technical and an ejection.
Here’s the way it went down:
In the pool report following the sport, Foster mentioned he ejected Barnes as a result of “he used verbiage that which instantly questioned the integrity of the crew.”
In the video you’ll be able to see Barnes mentioned one thing, however after the sport the Raptors ahead mentioned he was speaking to himself, not the referees.
When requested in regards to the foul name that led to Barnes’ ejection, Nurse mentioned “there was nothing there.” Nurse adopted that as much as say a great recreation was “sadly interrupted” by the foul and ejection.
While shedding Barnes for the final 30 seconds of the sport wasn’t the one purpose the Raptors misplaced the sport, 118-113, regardless of holding a six-point lead with three minutes left, it actually dampened what might’ve been an thrilling end.
Given the fuzzy rationalization about what led to Barnes’ ejection, that is one thing that the league might rescind after reviewing the tape. That does not actually assist the Raptors in the long term, and can solely add to the frustration of the preliminary name within the first place.
But no matter what the league does, Barnes’ ejection simply should not have occurred. Games are tight. Playoff berths are on the road. Players are invested in video games, competing arduous, as they need to, as all of us need them to. And typically there are emotional reactions to calls, good or dangerous.
This is not the primary occasion of the officers getting heavy handed in the case of handing out technicals or ejections, and this season particularly has seen some actually dangerous calls. This was an egregious mistake by Foster that performed an enormous consider Toronto’s loss.
