NBA Comments on Two Costly Calls in Nuggets' Loss to Blazers

A couple of foul calls went in the Portland Trail Blazers' favor against the Denver Nuggets.

Oct 31, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara (33) attempts to steal the basketball during the second half against Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

After stringing together a three-game winning streak to cement themselves as one of the strongest teams in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets suffered a crushing loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night to move to 3-2 on the season.

The Trail Blazers beat the Nuggets 109-107 in their first NBA Cup matchup, but Denver undoubtedly had opportunities to pull out a win in Portland. Most notably, a couple of costly officiating decisions in the closing seconds completely shifted the game.

Refs call a jump ball instead of a foul

With just six seconds left and a tie game, Nikola Jokic appeared to get fouled by Trail Blazers forward Toumani Camara, but the officials called a jump ball instead.

@OfficialNBARefs How is this a jump ball? Jokic was clearly fouled. pic.twitter.com/LiVjdTvqNC

— Courtside Dave (@Courtside_Dave) November 1, 2025

Many fans were upset about this call, as Jokic would have been shooting two free throws in a tie game with just seconds left on the clock. However, the NBA confirmed that this was the right decision in the Last Two Minute Report.

"Camara (POR) cleanly ties up Jokic (DEN) and a jump ball is correctly called," the NBA commented on a "correct no-call."

Aaron Gordon's game-sealing foul

With just 1.4 seconds left and the game tied, Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant rose up for a mid-range shot to potentially win the game, but was instead fouled by Nuggets' Aaron Gordon. This was another call that set fans ablaze, as Grant would go on to make both free throws and ultimately seal the game for Portland, despite Gordon making minimal contact on the play.

Grant draws a foul and heads to the line for two — 1.4 seconds left, and the Nuggets have no timeouts. pic.twitter.com/xyyXQ3iZyD

— Victor Sun (@Victor_S7709) November 1, 2025

The NBA confirmed that this was another correct call by the officiating crew.

"Gordon (DEN) extends his right hand forward and makes contact with Grant's (POR) arm as he starts his upward shooting motion. After communicating with the Replay Center, it was determined the foul occurred prior to the expiration of the game clock," the NBA commented on the Last Two Minute Report about the "correct call."

Of course, the Nuggets never want to allow the game to be decided by the officials, as they could have played much better to prevent it coming down to these two calls.

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