The Sacramento Kings lost to the Portland Trail Blazers in overtime last night, but it's very possible that the game could have ended in regulation. If head coach Paul Westphal had been able to get the attention of the NBA officials on the court, that is.
With a tied game, the Blazers were content to run out the 24 second shot clock and get the fourth quarter gameclock down to around two seconds. After passing the ball around the perimeter, Portland got the ball into the hands of their best player in LaMarcus Aldridge, isolated straight up on Samuel Dalembert. Dalembert, an excellent post defender, forced Aldridge into a difficult fadeaway, which clanked, eventually finding himself into the hands of Omri Casspi with two seconds left.
And ... well ... this happened.
No Timeout? 1.19.2011 Blazers vs Kings [HD] (via brandonmitchellorg)
For those of you unfamiliar with NBA rules, a coach or player can call a timeout, but usually the players need to make the call. Although Westphal did make the signal to the officials, none of his players on the court did. The players are generally responsible for calling timeouts down the stretch, since the refs are focusing on the action on the court.
So ... the refs probably deserve some credit, but the players should have been cognizant enough to realize there was time left on the clock, and Westphal perhaps didn't instruct them to call time based on the lack of "T's" made by the hands of Kings players. Just another fun day to be a Sacramento King fan.