That shotclock issue was messed up.
Getty Images | Photo by Stephen Dunn
ESPN: The Los Angeles Lakers saw a five-point lead with 2:32 remaining turn into a six-point loss at the final buzzer after the Utah Jazz finished the game on an 11-0 run Friday.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked after the game what caused his team’s stalled offense down the stretch. His reply: “The 24-second clock operator.”
The Lakers trailed by two with less than a minute to go when Derek Fisher advanced the ball up the court in a transition opportunity.
The referees whistled the play dead because the shot clock was stuck at six seconds. The clock was reset, and the Lakers took the ball out on the sidelines with the Jazz given the chance to set up their defense.
On a previous time down the court, the Jazz had to reset their possession out of bounds in similar fashion, but that came on a play that started out of bounds on the baseline after a Lakers made basket, not a fast-break scenario.
“What was going on there?” Jackson asked after the game. “That stopped a break on our part. … Fish had a nice rhythm going on a transition with a 3-point deficit, and it stops the ball and starts it out of bounds. It’s not right; it’s just not right.”
Jackson said the officials did not offer him any explanation of what caused the clock malfunction. The Jazz declined comment through a spokesman when asked about the sequence after the game.
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