LeBron James’ Timeout Vs. Suns Was Legal, Per Crew Chief

The Los Angeles Lakers entered the In-Season Tournament with great motivation. Players tried their best to win more games and yes, the result is here. LeBron James and his teammates won great games and they are coming off a good win over the Phoenix Suns. It was a great 106-103 win for the purple and gold and the Lakers celebrated a good outcome of the NBA In-Season Tournament quarterfinals game.

NBA fans watched one of the most exciting games in the tournament. Many would agree that it was packed with controversies.

Kevin Durant and his teammates had a chance to tie the game and LeBron pushed for a timeout. Some fans started off a discussion on social media, pointing to the fact that LeBron motioned to the officials for a timeout when Reaves was already losing the ball. Grayson Allen was close to the ball and the Suns could have won the game.

LeBron was right about the timeout in the win over Suns

Referee Tom Washington shared his thoughts on the timeout. According to him, there is nothing wrong with the timeout. Crew chief Josh Tiven discussed the decision for a timeout in the postgame Pool Report. He said that there were several great reasons to call for a timeout.

“During live play the official felt that LA still had possession of the ball when LeBron James requested the timeout,” Tiven said. “Through postgame video review in slow motion replay, we did see that Austin Reaves had his left hand on the ball while it’s pinned against his left leg, which does constitute control.”

LeBron saw the ball in Reaves’ hands and thought there is a solid ground for a timeout. The ref said that Reaves had his hand on the ball pinned against his leg.

Reddit user MrAppleSpoink says refs got it spot-on.

Refs did their job and there is no going back now. Phoenix players have to get over the loss. Devin Booker wasn’t too happy about the outcome, but Kevin Durant shared his honest take about the game. His team made some mistakes and lost the night.