Chris Paul Got His Comeuppance for Snitching on Jordan Bell
CP3’s snitching did not go unpunished
Alonzo Adams/USA Today Sports
Thunder point guard Chris Paul got a dose of karma in last night’s game against the Blazers.
With just 1.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Friday’s overtime win against the Timberwolves, Paul earned a key free throw for his team by snitching to the officials that Minnesota’s Jordan Bell had his jersey untucked. “That’s a delay of game,” Paul yelled, fully aware that a second delay violation resulted in a technical foul.
Because of that free throw, the Thunder only trailed by two points and Steven Adams was able to find Dennis Schroeder with a full-court pass for the game-tying basket. OKC went on to win the game in OT.
It was a shrewd move by CP3, who is one of the smartest players in the league but can also be kind of a jerk.
Paul didn’t go unpunished for his snitching, though. Two days later, on the road against the Blazers, referee Brian Forte was keeping a close eye on the Thunder for all the picayune things that can be whistled for a delay of game.
Sure enough, Forte called Paul for delay of game not once but twice and Paul was none too pleased to be on the other end of it. A court microphone caught him expressing his displeasure.
“He’s trying to prove a f---ing point,” Paul said. “You’re going to be on SportsCenter tonight, good job.”
The Thunder were able to pull out the victory, though, so Paul was in a better mood when he addressed the incident after the game.
“They both was on me, wasn’t it?” Paul told reporters. “That was good. He got me. He got me back.”
Paul wasn’t sure what he did to earn the first delay violation but said the second one was for entering the court with his warmups on.
“I learned something, too—that you can't have your shooting shirt and your pants on when you’re checking in,” Paul said. “They said if I’d had just one of them on—so you learn something new. They got me.”
Asked if he had a history with the referee, Paul smiled and said he’d save his money before leaving the locker room.
While Paul believes the two calls were a direct result of his actions on Friday, head coach Billy Donovan said he was told the officials were just following the rules.
“I asked them if that was the case, were they being a stickler? They said no, and that’s the rule and they were following it,” Donovan said. “I didn’t see either one of the delays, so I don’t want to comment on it. But once I see it, I'd be more than happy to comment on it.”
Either way, players better be on their best behavior around CP3.
The Patriots got screwed
Isn’t it nice to see the Patriots on the wrong end of an officiating blunder for once?
New England screwed out of one sure touchdown and another likely one by a pair of blown calls in the loss to the Chiefs.
The first was on a fumble by Travis Kelce that was initially ruled down by contact. Stephon Gilmore scooped the ball up and could have easily run it back for touchdown if the play hadn’t been whistled dead.
There was no question about whether the Pats player would have scored on the second play. N’Keal Harry caught a Tom Brady pass, raced down the sideline and into the end zone. He was ruled to have gone out of bounds at the 3-yard line but replays showed that he kept his feet in.
But because the Patriots had to challenge the Kelce play, they had no challenges left to reverse the Harry play and had to settle for a field goal.
You hate to see it.
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