The Golden State Warriors have had their share of frustrating finishes lately, but Saturday night’s win over the Phoenix Suns wasn’t one of them-at least not in the box score. Despite a chaotic final minute filled with missed calls and head-scratching officiating, Golden State held on for a 119-116 victory, even as the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report later confirmed what Warriors fans were already shouting at their screens: the refs didn’t exactly stick the landing.
Let’s break it down.
With just under a minute to go and the Warriors clinging to a narrow lead, Trayce Jackson-Davis was called for a shooting foul on Devin Booker, who finished the layup and knocked down the free throw to pull Phoenix within two. But according to the league’s official review, that whistle shouldn’t have blown.
The NBA’s L2M Report stated that Jackson-Davis “jumps vertically and absorbs the contact with Booker,” and when he swiped down, he avoided Booker’s arm entirely. In other words, clean defense, bad call.
That wasn’t the only moment the officials got wrong.
After Steph Curry calmly knocked down two free throws, Collin Gillespie responded with a clutch three to make it a one-point game. Then came one of the strangest sequences of the night.
The Warriors inbounded the ball to Curry, and the Suns immediately tried to foul to stop the clock. Curry got hit once.
Then again. No whistle.
The officials let the play go, and Curry, clearly confused, eventually just took it to the rim and scored.
The L2M Report confirmed what was obvious in real time: Booker “initiated illegal contact” on Curry’s arm, and that should have been a foul. Not only was it missed, but it was the first of multiple missed fouls during that possession. The NBA officially labeled it an “Incorrect Non-Call.”
Phoenix still had a shot in the final seconds. With under five seconds remaining, Gillespie tried to thread a pass to Royce O’Neale, but it deflected off O’Neale’s hands and into the backcourt.
Booker chased it down and recovered it-but that, too, should have been a violation. The report confirmed Booker illegally retrieved the ball after it crossed into the backcourt.
Another missed call, though this one didn’t change the outcome. Booker launched a desperation 40-footer at the buzzer that didn’t come close.
So, in the final minute alone, the NBA acknowledged three officiating mistakes, all of which favored the Suns. Yet, the Warriors still came out on top.
Now, it’s worth noting that the league only issues Last Two Minute Reports for close games in the final two minutes, so we won’t get any official word on earlier moments-like whether Jimmy Butler (yes, somehow involved in this one too) got away with throwing the ball off Dillon Brooks, or whether Draymond Green’s second foul, the one for arguing after his collision with Gillespie, was as soft as it looked.
And just for context, the L2M Report from Thursday’s loss to Phoenix-where Moses Moody was called for a game-deciding foul with 0.4 seconds left-backed the officials. The league said the call on Moody was correct, even if he did get a piece of the ball.
Here’s the thing: the Last Two Minute Reports don’t change outcomes. They don’t trigger replays or do-overs.
They’re essentially the NBA saying, “Yeah, we missed that,” and moving on. But for the Warriors, this one goes in the win column, both on the scoreboard and in the postgame report.
Moral victories don’t count in the standings, but when you battle through bad calls and still come out with a win? That says something. The Warriors didn’t just beat the Suns-they beat the whistle, too.