April 5, 2021: Washington Wizards lose to the Toronto Raptors 103-101
No Kyle Lowry. No Fred VanVleet. No problem. Right? Well, not exactly. The Washington Wizards were without Bradley Beal for their second game vs. the Toronto Raptors this season. So each team was down an All-Star. Russell Westbrook did his best to deliver a win for the shorthanded Wizards with another triple-double: 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists.
But it was Westbrook’s inefficiency, no his production, that hindered the Wizards in this game. Westbrook made just one of his six(!) three-point attempts and shot 36 percent from the field. A bit better decision-making from Westbrook may have made all the difference in a game that literally came down to the final shot.
And let’s talk about that last shot. What ended up being a pretty wide-open three-point attempt for Gary Trent Jr., one that he buried for the win, probably should have been called off. In the replay below, you can see Trent gives Raul Neto a small forearm shove to the chest right after he crosses half court. Was there a little embellishment by Neto? Sure. Was there contact? Definitely.
You can call it a flop if you want, but if Neto were able to draw the foul thereafter some contact, it would have given the Wizards the ball back. Game over. If he had stuck with him, though, Trent would have definitely gotten a less open look at the basket. According to the last two-minute report, it was a correct non-call.