Dwight Howard to heckler during Rockets-Clippers: ‘Let it go’
It was, evidently, a heckle-tastic weekend in the ol’ Association! In addition to Kobe Bryant throwing more-accurate-than-his-jumper shade at the New York Knicks’ attempts to run the triangle offense and Carmelo Anthony thanking a Los Angeles Lakers fan for razzing him all afternoon on the way to a game-high 24 points in Sunday’s win, we also had a gentleman giving Dwight Howard the business during the Houston Rockets’ Saturday visit to Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Clippers.
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There is, of course, precious little love lost for Howard in Hollywood, thanks to the combination of his relatively disastrous tenure at the Lakers’ expected post-Kobe savior and his role in the Rockets’ stunning comeback from a 3-1 deficit to oust the Clips in the second round of the 2015 Western Conference playoffs this past spring. That fan displeasure spilled from the stands to the sideline on Saturday, as Howard waited to check into the contest following a stint on the bench:
For my money, it remains a worse idea to engage with hecklers midstream than it is to ignore them and let your play on the court do your talking. That said, if Dwight’s committed to having this sort of direct interaction with his critics, asking if they’re still mad about stuff that happened three years ago and suggesting that they let it go seems like a much better approach than, say, lobbing “yo mama” jokes at them, making fun of their faces on Twitter, tossing basketballs to them during play and inviting them to come out on the court to shoot the fair one. It’s also not too forward and friendly an approach, representing a solid step backward from leaping into the first row for a hug. This seems like progress! Good job, Dwight!
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Not quite so good a job? The one done by the officials in charge of the proceedings in Clippers-Rockets, who missed a key call in the final minute that cost L.A. a critical bucket:
With Houston holding a two-point lead, less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation and All-Star point guard Chris Paul sidelined with the groin strain he suffered earlier in the week, the Clippers went to All-Star power forward Blake Griffin, who worked a switch and wound up one-on-one against overmatched swingman Marcus Thornton. Griffin backed him down and put up a left-handed floater, partially altered by the help of Howard.
As the two big men battled for the rebound at the rim, Howard eventually tapped the ball with his right hand while it was still above the cylinder; that would constitute defensive goaltending, which would’ve tied the game at 107 with 16.8 seconds remaining. Instead, the refs ruled Howard’s touch legal and the ball out off L.A., giving possession back to the Rockets. The Clippers fouled on the inbounds pass, Houston point guard Ty Lawson made his free throws, and a pair of last-gasp 3-pointers came up empty, as the Rockets came away with a 109-105 win behind 46 points from side-eye-and-sliding shooting guard James Harden.
After finishing with a team-high 35 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, Griffin lamented the no-call while making sure not to speak too harshly of the officials who pooched the play, according to Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times:
âThatâs textbook goaltending,â said Griffin […] âbut they canât go back and look at it if there wasnât an actual call on that goaltend or not goaltend, whatever you want to call it. They went and looked at who it was out of bounds off of, so thatâs the only thing they can go back and change. So the review didnât really help us.â Griffin said he didnât hold the officials culpable. âListen, reffing games is very hard,â Griffin said. âI tried to ref a Little League camp game this summer and it didnât go so well, so I know. This gameâs going fast. I donât think any of those guys missed it on purpose, I really donât.â
Purposeful or not, it wasn’t the right call, and the NBA acknowledged as much on Sunday, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com:
In the NBA’s Last Two Minutes report, the league said the officials should have called a goaltending on Howard.
“I just try and not let the ball get in the basket,” Howard said. “It’s [the referee’s] job to make calls and my job to play. Can’t do nothing about it now.”
In other words: the Clippers and their fans, much like the heckler who got Howard’s attention on Saturday, must just get their Elsa on and let it go.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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