Beal, Wizards seething after ´tough s***´ loss to Clippers

Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal was unhappy with a ruling late in his team’s controversial loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Lou Williams drained a three-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining to give the Clippers a 113-112 win over the Wizards on Saturday.

But had the officials not made a mistake with the clock, the ending may have gone differently.

The aftermath of the final play for Washington can only be described as controversial, and the ruling was described aptly by Beal.

“Oh, it’s the tough s*** rule,” Beal told reporters after the game via ESPN. “That’s what it is. I don’t really understand it, I don’t get it.”

Game over.

Porter 27p-11r-5a
Beal 25p
Scott 22p-8r#WizClippers #DCFamily pic.twitter.com/PpysO0Bpkc

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) December 9, 2017
The play in question came on the inbounds following Williams’ shot. The Wizards got the ball in and Beal made a shot on the baseline, but the ball was ruled dead as time had run out. However, time had not run out. The clock had been started too soon, costing Washington their chance to tie the game.

Officials reviewed the play and ruled the clock had started too early and the Wizards got the ball back. But they got it back with less time and they had to inbound the ball from the corner rather than the elbow.

Washington then took another shot and missed, resulting in a win for the Clippers.

“It’s a freak rule. To me, it didn’t really make sense because you kind of take a basket away,” Beal said.

“You go back and we get the same amount of time, but we didn’t get the same amount of time and then the ball was placed in the corner.”

The loss dropped the Wizards to 14-12, but they still lead the Southeast Division and sit eighth in the Eastern Conference standings.