Warriors win NBA In-Season Tournament game after controversial review

The Golden State Warriors duked it out with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night in the first-ever night of the NBA In-Season Tournament. The court was blue and the nets were smoldering, as neither team missed very many shots. 141-139 was the final score.

It all ended with a beautiful game-winning scoop shot from Stephen Curry, who juked Luguentz Dort on the perimeter before gliding effortlessly into the lane for a layup that kissed high off the glass.

Poetry in motion, the classic adage that so eloquently sums up watching Curry play. At first glance, it's a beautiful and unstoppable shot. He kept one of the league's best perimeter defenders grasping at air and hit an impossible underhand layup over Chet Holmgren's 7-foot-7 wingspan in traffic. In OKC's shoes, you tip your cap and move on...

Except, it probably shouldn't have counted. Upon closer examination, Josh Giddey's hand caught the net and Draymond Green's hand hit the rim — all before Curry's shot finally found the bottom.

One could argue that it's defensive goaltending. One could argue it's offensive interference. One could argue both occurred, which would require a jump ball at halfcourt.

The referees convened with their peers in Secaucus (for an extremely long time) and determined that it was, in fact, a made basket. Game over, Warriors win.

It's only natural for the NBA's new tournament to kick off with some controversy.

Warriors topple Thunder in tournament game despite blatant basket interference

The official explanation was that Green did touch the rim, but it didn't impact Curry's shot. Here is the response from crew chief Mitchell Ervin in the pool report.

"It was clear and conclusive evidence that Draymond does not touch the ball. Although Draymond does touch the rim, he does not touch the ball, nor does him touching the rim cause the ball to take an unnatural bounce therefore a basketball violation does not occur on the play."

Giddey, curiously, is not mentioned. The NBA rules state that if an offensive player and a defensive player both interfere with the shot while it's in the cylinder, the correct course of action is a jump ball at halfcourt.

Ultimately, however, the refs decided that neither player interfered with the outcome of Curry's shot. So, game over. OKC surely isn't pleased with the decision, especially given the implications of an In-Season Tournament loss, but there's not much that can be done after the fact. The Warriors won, the Thunder lost, and the season marches forward.

It was a great basketball game all around, so it's unfortunate that the ending is marred in such controversy. OKC put up a tremendous fight despite missing their MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. By that same token, it was a tremendous all-around effort from the Warriors — at least on the offensive end. Draymond was involved in several ref moments down the stretch, but he made some classic, clever plays to help Golden State outlast the younger Thunder.

At the end of the day, Curry probably deserves that shot. It would have gone in regardless, and frankly, Giddey's hand in the net causes more movement than Draymond's rim tap. So, while it's fair to question the deployment of the NBA rules, sometimes you lose on an incredible Stephen Curry game-winner. It's what the man does.