In a bizarre turn of events during last night’s game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers, both teams briefly played on the wrong baskets at the start of the fourth quarter. The unusual incident occurred when the referees mistakenly directed the Thunder to inbound from the wrong end of the floor.
As the fourth quarter began, the Thunder inbounded the ball and started dribbling up the floor. However, Oklahoma City guard Ajay Mitchell, following his team’s bench instructions, suddenly made a U-turn and headed towards the opposite basket to attempt a layup. The referees quickly intervened and called the play dead before Mitchell could score. It was then revealed that the referees had mistakenly directed the Thunder to start the quarter from the wrong side of the court.
Realizing the error, the referees instructed the Thunder to return to the correct side of the court to restart the fourth quarter. The Pacers, who were leading 84-83 at the time, watched the scene unfold with bemusement. The game continued, and the Thunder went on to win 120-114, thanks to a stellar performance from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 45 points.
During Thunder-Pacers tonight, the referees had OKC inbounding on the wrong side of the floor to start the 4th quarter 😂pic.twitter.com/RNkKdfyerO
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 27, 2024
