DeMar DeRozan and the Raptors had an incredible comeback against the Warriors on Saturday night after they fell behind 81-54 in the first half. DeRozan scored 42 points and Toronto was right in it at the end of the game. However, some calls didn't go its way and a few shots fell short. The Warriors held off the comeback to win 127-125.

The major call that didn't go Toronto's way had to do with a late game out-of-bounds call. Following a jump ball, both the Warriors and Raptors made a mad dash for the loose ball. It bounced around everywhere before finally rolling out. The refs called Raptors ball and reviewed it, but reversed it in the Warriors' favor when they saw that DeRozan was out of bounds when his leg made contact with the ball.

After the game, the Raptors were clearly not pleased with the officiating. Fred Van Vleet made sure to let media know that he doesn't make enough to pay the fine that would come down on him for commenting on the calls.

DeRozan on the other hand signed a five-year, $145 million deal a couple summers ago. So he had some money to burn.

DeRozan is definitely going to receive a fine for the five-on-eight comment. He most likely knew as much when he said that. Sometimes players just want to get something off their chest and questionable calls, technicals, and ejections have been a place that many have expressed their frustrations with this season.

As for the out of bounds rule. This is from the official rules on NBA.com.

Review of Out-of-Bounds Plays

Since the 2009-10 season, referees have reviewed any out-of-bounds play that occurs in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and during overtime when they are not reasonably certain as to which player caused the ball to go out-of-bounds.

Referees can only initiate a review on a called out-of-bounds play (for example, not one where an out-of-bounds might have occurred) and only those involving doubt as to which player caused the ball to go out (not those, for example, where a player stepped on the line).

In addition to determining which player caused the ball to go out-of-bounds, referees also look to confirm whether:

  • The game clock expired before the ball went out-of-bounds or the amount of time to put on the clock,
  • A 24-second violation occurred before the ball went out-of-bounds,
  • An 8-second backcourt violation occurred before the ball went out of bounds, or
  • Any unsportsmanlike acts or unnecessary contact occurred.

DeRozan's frustration appears to be with the final part of that rule. The review is meant to determine which player caused the ball go out of bounds and not if they were on the line. In the case of DeRozan he didn't knock the ball out of bounds, but instead made contact with it while being out of bounds. It was warriors guard Stephen Curry that pushed the ball out.

This is difficult, because by the rule on NBA.com DeRozan is right that how the ruling took place isn't correct. However, in the spirit of out of bounds he is the one who made contact with the ball. Either way, this is another time where the refs are under the spotlight due to a crucial end game call that didn't go cleanly. The last time this happened was with the Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo when he stepped out of bounds on a game-winner against the Thunder.