• BUY NOW: Emirates NBA Cup Tickets (Semi-Finals and Finals)
• Get NBA League Pass TODAY

HOUSTON (AP) – Golden State coach Steve Kerr said a foul on his team that led to a loss to Houston in the NBA Cup on Wednesday night was “unconscionable” and that an elementary school referee didn’t call it.

After Stephen Curry missed a 3-pointer and the Warriors had a one-point lead with 11 seconds left, Gary Payton II grabbed the offensive rebound but turned it over with a pass that Jalen Green intercepted. Jonathan Kuminga was then called for a foul on Green while they were on the floor, giving Green two free throws that gave the Rockets the 91-90 victory and a spot in the NBA Cup semifinals.

“This is unreasonable,” Kerr said. “I mean, I don’t even understand what just happened.”

Kerr said it should have either been a jump ball or given the Rockets the timeout they were trying to call.

“Our guys fought back, played their foul language and deserved to win the game or at least have a chance for a stop at the end to end the game,” he said. “And that was taken away from us by a call that I don’t think an elementary school referee would have made. Because this guy would have felt and said, ‘You know, I’m not going to decide a game with a loose ball 80 feet from the basket.'”

Crew chief Billy Kennedy was asked by a pool reporter why the foul was called.

“The defender makes contact with the neck and shoulder area, which warrants a personal foul,” Kennedy said.

Kerr ranted at the line for about two minutes after the game, complaining about what he said was a clear foul on Curry that wasn’t called earlier.

“The game was a complete wrestling match,” Kerr said. “They didn’t call anything. Steph Curry clearly got hit in the elbow on a jump shot, but he hit it right there and couldn’t do anything about it. So you’ve decided that you’re just not going to call anything during the game, it’s a physical game. Then you call a loose-ball foul in a jump-ball situation with guys jumping around on the floor with the game on the line?”

Houston lost 15 games to the Warriors, winning for the first time in the series since February 20, 2020, when James Harden and Russell Westbrook led the Rockets.