Following the Kings’ 135-133 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night at Fiserv Forum, Crew Chief Mitchell Ervin clarified why Russell Westbrook wasn’t hit with a flagrant foul after wrapping up Giannis Antetokounmpo on a hard play near the rim.
In a Pool Report interview with Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ervin said the officials reviewed the sequence under the “player altercation” trigger and determined the contact didn’t rise to a flagrant level.
“During that review, there was no windup, impact or follow through by Westbrook and the contact by Westbrook was at shoulder level,” Ervin said. “Therefore, a common foul was ruled on the play.”
Ervin added that because the incident was reviewed as a “player altercation,” the crew was able to examine every part of the scrum for possible unsportsmanlike conduct.
“Player altercation — I could have said a double trigger,” Ervin explained. “I could have said player altercation and flagrant foul review. During a player altercation review, we really have an opportunity to review the play and any acts within the scrum at the end — we could review everything and any possible unsportsmanlike act after the foul.”
A few possessions later, tensions flared again when DeMar DeRozan fouled Milwaukee’s Gary Trent Jr. What looked like a standard shooting foul quickly escalated when Trent was hit with a technical for his reaction.
“The technical foul on Trent Jr. was assessed for unsportsmanlike flail after the personal foul assessed to DeMar DeRozan,” Ervin noted.
The third quarter wasn’t the only stretch that saw tempers flare. Earlier in the game, Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis was assessed a technical foul after shoving Domantas Sabonis in the back, leading to a brief scuffle between the teams.
Later, Bucks guard Cole Anthony was ejected with less than 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
From the opening quarter to the final minutes, the officiating crew was tested on multiple fronts. In a later sequence before Bucks guard AJ Green’s last free throw — when Westbrook appeared to grab Antetokounmpo — Ervin said officials “did not observe that part of the play” and determined no foul or violation occurred.
In a game defined by its physical tone and frequent reviews, Ervin’s comments helped clarify the officials’ decisions on several key moments. It wasn’t pretty, but after a hard-fought 48 minutes, Sacramento ended a decade-long win drought in Milwaukee and secured its second win of the season. The Kings now prepare to face the 3-2 Denver Nuggets on Monday.
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