76ers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. apologises after epic tirade following a controversial play vs. Clippers

The Sixers and Clippers fought until the last second of their Wednesday night matchup, ending the tie in full-blown drama that included insults and replay reviews. This is why the controversy surrounding the last play of the contest, stained the Los Angeles club’s 108-107 triumph.

With the 76ers trailing by a point in the final play of the game, Kelly Oubre Jr. took the ball and drove it towards the basket but collided with Paul George as he got off the floor. The officials didn’t see an issue with the play and restrained from blowing the whistle, which meant that time eventually expired and the Clippers earned the win.

The Philadelphia forward walked over to the officials alongside his coach Nick Nurse to yell at the refs, but both were consequently separated by their own teammates. Oubre Jr.’s choice of words have gone viral on social media, as he appears to insult them after his 17-point performance.

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“First and foremost, heat of the moment, this is an intense basketball game, of course. We’re not perfect, the refs aren’t perfect,” he said full of regret. “I want to apologize for just losing my cool, because that’s something I try to work on each and every day, and try to represent God in the best way I possibly can, and that wasn’t it. I just ask for forgiveness.”

Oubre Jr. revealed that he witnessed his coach’s frustration, which only fueled his own anger. “But I saw Coach Nurse getting riled up and if our coach is going to fight for us and he’s going there, then I’m right behind him. At the end of the day it wasn’t cool, so I’ll take whatever penalties come with that and have to move on. But I’ve got to be better, in a sense,” he added.

To make matters worse, the referees later admitted they had made a mistake during that play, in which Kelly hoped to get at least a free-throw attempt. “On the last play on the floor, in real time the crew interpreted that play as the defender jumping vertically,” said crew chief Kevin Scott. “However, in post-game video review we did observe some slight drift to his left by the defender George, and a foul should have been ruled.”

It is normal to have officials miss calls during a basketball match, but the ones that occur in the final minutes of a game usually are subject to the most scrutiny. The Sixers, who at some point were second in the Eastern Conference’s standings, are now fighting to stay out of Play-In positions.

Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse revealed how his team was contributing to their own defeat against the Clippers

Despite letting off steam at the end of the contest, the 76ers tactician knew they only had themselves to blame for their last-second loss to the Clippers. Philly wasn’t able to contain their opponent’s full-court press and made many mistakes along the way.

“Well, at 104-101, we had the ball sideline, [and] Tyrese [Maxey] breaks into the backcourt wide open, slips and falls, and they get an and-1 out of that,” Nurse explained. “We come down and score, they’re full-court press and they knock one off of Kelly out of bounds.”

However, the Sixers coach didn’t agree with some late calls made by the refs, and even excused his starting forward for all the drama that ensued once the final buzzer went off.

“I think [Oubre] took it in there pretty hard,” Nick expressed postgame. “I looked at it on our computers a couple times. I thought it was certainly contact, certainly as much of the last two or three that got called and-1s at the other end. I thought it was enough contact to call. [But] that’s the way it goes sometimes.”