On Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors played a thrilling game that ended in an odd way. In addition to the shot clock malfunctioning, a thorough study was conducted to determine whether LeBron James‘ made three-pointer late in the fourth quarter was out of bounds.
Crew Chief David Guthrie provided an explanation of that decision in a Pool Report with Khobi Price of the Southern California News Group. He said as follows:
“James’ left foot is out of bounds as he beings to shoot. Yes, it is reviewable at that time. The rule is Rule 13, Section II(f)(3): Whether the shooter committed a boundary line violation, the replay center official will only look at the position of the player’s feet at the moment they touch the floor immediately prior to the release of the shot. This can be applied during other replay triggers as well.”
Another significant play occurred late in the game when Golden State was able to prolong their possession beyond the allotted 24 seconds due to a shot clock malfunction. Regarding this play, Guthrie responded as follows: “The shot clock malfunctioned during live play at that time and that is not a reviewable matter.”
In that particular case, Guthrie acknowledged that the officials should have seen a shot clock failure, but they were powerless to fix it after it occurred.