The NBA cleared the Sacramento Kings of any wrongdoing after investigating a late-game intentional foul against the Warriors, ruling it a mistaken strategy rather than an attempt to lose.
The NBA has cleared the Sacramento Kings of any wrongdoing after investigating an incident late in their April 7 game against the Golden State Warriors.
Sacramento Kings / Schedule
NBA statement on Kings investigation:
“The NBA has completed an investigation of the Sacramento Kings and Head Coach Doug Christie’s decision to foul intentionally late in the team’s game against the Golden State Warriors on April 7.
The league’s investigation determined that Christie mistakenly believed that the Warriors were not in the penalty and therefore instructed his team to foul in an attempt to stop the clock and utilize one of the team’s remaining timeouts.
The investigation found that Christie made no intentional effort to give the Warriors a shooting foul or to cause the Kings to lose the game.”
The play in question occurred when coach Christie instructed forward Doug McDermott to foul Warriors guard Seth Curry in the backcourt, away from the ball.
At that time, the Kings were already in the penalty, meaning the Warriors were in the bonus. Curry went to the line and made one of two free throws, tying the game.
The Warriors ultimately won 110-105.
The NBA launched the investigation after veteran forward Draymond Green called the play out postgame, calling it one of the most blatant he had seen and questioning why a team leading by one would commit such a foul with over three minutes left, raising suspicions of tanking.
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