Warriors Are Left With a Bad Taste
Monday, March 5, 2007; Page E09
The Golden State Warriors clearly were not pleased about the way they lost to the Wizards yesterday afternoon at Verizon Center.
Moments after Gilbert Arenas clinched the 107-106 win by making three free throws, including one that was the result of a technical foul assessed to Golden State Coach Don Nelson, Golden State General Manager Rod Higgins met referees Tony Brothers, Derrick Stafford and Jason Phillips in the tunnel leading to the locker room.
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Stafford had hit Nelson with a technical after Nelson used profanity to dispute a call Brothers made in the closing seconds. With Golden State nursing a two-point lead with one-tenth of a second remaining, Brothers called a foul on guard Mickael Pietrus, who was defending a driving Arenas. "That's [expletive]," Higgins yelled. "A technical?" Stafford cut Higgins off.
"Watch what you say," Stafford warned. "They told us to do that. Call Stu."
The "Stu" was in reference to NBA Executive Vice President of Operations Stu Jackson, who handles fines and suspensions for coaches and players.
Players and coaches on both sides said they couldn't remember taking part in a game that featured such a strange and controversial ending. Apart from the technical on Nelson, the Warriors were upset that Brothers called Pietrus for a shooting foul on Arenas when replays showed that Arenas was in the act of shooting as the buzzer sounded.
"It was clear to me, but I'll let you look at it and make your own decision," Nelson said. "I'm sure the league will look at it."
