France escaped a tight basketball matchup against Japan at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Tuesday, and the French got a lot of help from the officials to save them at the end.
Japan led 84-80 with 10 seconds left, when France's Rudy Gobert found Matthew Strazel on the perimeter. Strazel pump-faked one defender, got a better angle and fired a three-pointer from the wing. It went in, and officials whistled Japan's Yuki Kawamura for a foul. There was just one problem, Kawamura didn't appear to touch Strazel.
Video is below.
france's 4 point play to stay alive pic.twitter.com/XooYz7FoT5
— who is @goaltend (@2MANYBRIDGES) July 30, 2024
And this still photo seems to show there was no contact on the shot.
Tough foul call pic.twitter.com/uRjj3cv9pH
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) July 30, 2024
Strazel made the free throw to tie the game 84-84. Kawamura missed a three-pointer at the other end and the game went to overtime. France outlasted the Japanese to win 94-90 in the extra frame.
After the game, Japan's coach Tom Hovasse didn't dispute the call.
That wasn't the first questionable call officials made in the home team's favor. Earlier in the game, Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura was ejected for a foul on Gobert. While it did appear to be a hard foul, it was ruled "unsportsmanlike" his second of the game, and therefore an automatic ejection. Hachimura had scored 24 points in 22 minutes before being tossed.
The result improved France to 2-0 and dropped Japan to 0-2, while helping the hosts avoid a massive upset.
Kawamura led the way for Japan with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists. France got 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists from Victor Wembanyama, while Strazel added 17 off the bench.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as France Got a Very Questionable Whistle to Avoid Upset Loss to Japan.
