The Golden State Warriors had their biggest game of the NBA season on Wednesday night when they took on the highly-fancied Houston Rockets in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup. The Dubs had done well against the Rockets this year despite Steph Curry’s absence, but Wednesday’s stakes – a shot in the NBA Cup semifinals and $100,000 for each player – meant Golden State was certainly Houston’s Best performance would be shot.

It seemed like they barely survived the Rockets’ best shot. But they didn’t survive the referee’s best shot.

The game was a tough affair from the first tip, with only the defense playing. The Warriors were sloppy on offense, partly through their own fault and partly due to a spectacular defensive performance from the Rockets. And Golden State matched Houston’s defensive brilliance with excellence of its own. The Warriors starting five couldn’t score, and their second unit really couldn’t score, but the second unit kept up the defensive effort. The game seemed tied 18-15 in Houston’s favor for hours…the teams combined to score just five points in the final 4:25 of the first quarter. With six turnovers already, the Warriors were down 20-18 after one turnover.

The second quarter didn’t offer much more. The Dubs got off to a bad start with two quick turnovers, forcing Steve Kerr to call a timeout after just 66 seconds. They appeared to be turning things around with back-to-back emphatic dunks from Trayce Jackson-Davis and Draymond Green, but then they fell back into their turnover habits and suddenly the Dubs defense was reeling. Two own 24-second violations ended a fierce dunk by Jalen Green, giving the Rockets a 34-24 lead about five minutes later. That lead grew to 40-26, forcing Steve Kerr to call a timeout with 4:14 left in the half.

Led by the energy of Brandin Podziemski, the Warriors countered with an 11-2 run, shutting down defense to allow for easy offense. However, Houston ended the half on a high note, leading 44-37 at halftime. At that point, the Warriors had shot just 4 of 22 on threes and the Rockets had shot just 1 of 13.

Things really got exciting in the third quarter. The Warriors closed the gap again, largely behind the aggressiveness and tenacity of Jonathan Kuminga. Finally, with about four minutes left, Jackson-Davis gave the team the lead. Thanks to some moments of brilliance from Steph Curry and 11 points from Buddy Hield, the Warriors were able to maintain a 69-68 lead after three points.

The fourth quarter brought the most drama and energy we’ve seen in the NBA this year. Every possession felt huge and the Warriors quickly extended the lead to six. But the Rockets continued to gain momentum, even as various Warriors responded with three-pointers to keep them at bay. The bench unit of Podziemski, Hield, Kuminga, Jackson-Davis and Lindy Waters III maintained the defensive intensity and maintained a four-point lead when Curry and Green came back into the game with 4:26 left.

A three-pointer from Kuminga gave the Warriors a seven-point lead with under four minutes left, and the Warriors’ defense, led by a superstar performance from Green, came into play. But they turned the ball over three times in a row in two minutes, giving the Rockets the win with less than a minute left, just three minutes behind. After a frantic sequence, Alperen Şengün made a layup to cut the lead to one with about 27 seconds left.

Then everything collapsed. Instead of running down the shot clock, Curry resorted to a dagger and didn’t attempt a three until about halfway through the shot clock. He failed, Gary Payton II managed a wonderful offensive rebound before falling to the ground trying to secure the ball. Surrounded by Rockets, Payton was afraid of a jump ball and tried to roll the ball to a teammate. Kuminga and Jalen Green both hit the ground to snag the loose ball in what looked like an energetic and exciting but completely normal play.

The referees blew their whistle with 3.5 seconds left. Standard material.

And then they called for a foul on Kuminga. It was a foul that I’m sure I’ve never seen before, and Kerr’s feelings after the game were not only as heated as you’d expect, but also accurate.

Jalen Green sank both free throws to give the Rockets a one-point lead. The Warriors didn’t get a clear look at the buzzer, Podziemski had a three-pointer blocked, while the Warriors protested that a foul should have been called.

Instead, a buzzer sounded and they lost 91-90.

While the Warriors can and should blame the refs, they can and should also blame themselves. They set a season high with 22 assists and shot just 12 of 38 on threes. Their performance faltered again later on as the game ended with a 7-0 run by the Rockets and the Warriors failed to score in the final three minutes.

Kuminga led the way with 20 points, while Curry (19) and Hield (15) were the only other Warriors in double figures. Green had a soft-spoken line and had five turnovers, but might have had the best individual defensive game in the NBA this season.

The Warriors are now eliminated from the NBA Cup and will instead play the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, giving them an 82-game schedule.