After a dominant NBA Cup run took the  to the knockout rounds, Wednesday’s matchup against the Houston Rockets crushed their hopes for a trip to Las Vegas.

The Warriors had the ticket to Vegas secured in their hands with just seconds left, but an insane ending shocked everyone. The final play of the game led to tons of controversy, as the referees called a crucial loose-ball foul on Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga with three seconds left and a one-point lead. Rockets guard would then make both free throws, taking the lead and ultimately winning the game for Houston.

This ending caused mayhem, as head coach  and star guard Steph Curry simply could not believe what had just happened.

Now, after the Warriors have had a couple of days off to rest and reflect on the heartbreaking loss, Warriors star forward gave his input on the Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.

“Obviously, I disagree with the call,” Green said. “I’m a little upset for the game to end on two free throws like that with a play like that, nobody’s in scoring position. With all the things leading up to it, it’s upsetting. But, you gotta make the plays down the stretch and give the credit. They made the plays down the stretch and we didn’t.”

Considering how poorly Wednesday’s game ended, Green gave a very level-headed response by giving the Rockets credit and acknowledging that the Warriors simply did not make the plays they needed to. It is always horrible for a game to end like that, but the first step is to make the right plays to avoid being in that tight situation in the first place.

This article first appeared on Golden State Warriors on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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Trade rumors have surrounded the Miami Heat in recent weeks with players like Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier being linked with moves away. But it is Thomas Bryant who will be heading out of South Beach. According to Shams Charania on ESPN, the Heat have agreed on a trade to send Bryant to the Indiana Pacers. In return, Miami will get a swap of a future second-round pick. He becomes trade-eligible on Sunday. The Pacers were in urgent need of a center after injuries to Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman. Why have the Heat decided to part ways with Bryant though? Well, there might be a couple of reasons behind the decision. Firstly, it will help the Heat stay below the second luxury tax apron. As Bobby Marks wrote on X: Secondly, one has to think that this has something to do with the developmental plans for Kel’el Ware. Bryant was averaging 11.5 minutes and the rookie could do with that playing time. Ware has actually shined in the G League recently. In two games, he has averaged 18.5 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 29.6 minutes minutes for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. That might have been enough to convince the Heat coaching team that Ware is ready for a bigger role in their rotation. Let’s see if Bryant’s exit leads to the rookie getting more playing time moving forward. Another player who might be in line for more minutes following Bryant’s exit is Kevin Love, who has primarily been the backup to Bam Adebayo this season.

The inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff features numerous teams appearing for the first time since its 2014 launch. Specifically, six out of the 12 teams are newcomers to the playoff. The SMU Mustangs (11-2) and the Indianan Hoosiers (11-1) are two of the more unexpected teams. In their inaugural year in the ACC, the media projected SMU to finish seventh. Conversely, before the season began, the Hoosiers were forecasted to finish second to last in the Big Ten. Both teams exceeded those expectations and have reached the College Football Playoff. However, on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum argues that the committee overestimated both schools. “They had SMU ranked too high, and they had Indiana ranked way too high,” Finebaum said. ” A major criticism of both schools concerns their strength of schedule. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, SMU’s schedule is rated No. 57 and Indiana’s at No. 67. However, both argue that they are among the top 13 in the nation regarding average margin of victory, with SMU at No. 13 and Indiana at No. 3. Thus, despite perceptions of having weak schedules, they have effectively dominated their opponents. Both schools aim to prove Finebaum and other skeptics wrong by making playoff runs. They have the opportunity to do so next weekend: the Hoosiers will face the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-1) at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC on December 20, while the Mustangs will compete against the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions (11-2) at noon ET on TNT on December 21.

Ex-Boston Bruins forward Tyler Bertuzzi and the Chicago Blackhawks were thought to be facing tampering charges for their deal during the summer; here’s the judgment. The free-agent frenzy begins on July 1 and enthralls us all as we see our favorite players come and go. They sign new deals and are traded and we’re on the edge of our seats. But a casual conversation that happened between Tyler Bertuzzi and ex-Bruins forward Nick Foligno led to speculation that tampering occurred. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun brought the news to our attention earlier this year when Bill Daly was concerned about the number of deals that happened right when free agency kicked off. “As Bill Daly told me afterwards, more of a refresher, that the league has not talked about or emphasized the rules around tampering for a few years now and he felt now that it was time and I asked him why it was time and he said that he was, quote, a little uncomfortable with some of the commentary in the media reported heading into July 1st last year and gave them the impression that there’s been negotiations before July 1st and he just wanted to remind GMs that you can’t do that before July 1st and there are repercussions in terms of fines and/or potential loss of draft picks. So we’ll see what impact that conversation from Bill Daly had ahead of next July 1st.” Elliotte Friedman of the “32 Thoughts” podcast would also add the possible consequences NHL GMs faced if they were found guilty of tampering. “The NHL sent out a memo,” Friedman said. “Now you’ll remember, at the GM meetings, they warned teams about tampering. They didn’t like how July 1 went last year, with a bunch of signings announced as (early as as July 1) afternoon. They have warned not only players, but also team employees like coaches and managers, other front office staff.” However, after a long investigation, Bill Daly has come up dry and no NHL team will suffer charges of tampering, including the Chicago Blackhawks, and Tyler Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi admitted to reporters that he didn’t have the Chicago Blackhawks on his radar until after Nick Foligno reached out to him in an attempt to turn his gaze to the original-six franchise. Bertuzzi would sign a four-year, $22 million deal with GM Kyle Davidson and the Hawks. Tyler Bertuzzi’s contract wasn’t the only one under the microscope as Daly and company were looking into Brandon Montour, Tyler Toffoli and Brett Pesce’s deals before concluding there was no wrongdoing. Instead, the NHL has simply reminded teams of the consequences should tampering rules be broken. Perhaps this season the flurry of deals won’t be so prevalent again.

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