2011 NBA Playoffs: Controversial Call Costs the Denver Nuggets Game 1

With 1:20 left in the fourth quarter, the Denver Nuggets held a one-point lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder, 101-100.

Russell Westbrook dribbled the ball to half court on the right wing and passed to Kevin Durant on the left wing. Durant took a dribble back toward Westbrook and passed the ball back to him.

Westbrook then drove toward the basket against Raymond Felton before quickly stopping, pivoting with a ball fake and forcing up a tough, off-balanced shot.

The ball first bounced on the front of the rim, then the glass and as it was on its way to bouncing out of the "cylinder," Thunder player Kendrick Perkins reached his right hand up through the net to tip the ball back down for a two-point basket.

By rule, this should have been called goaltending. There should have been no basket and the play waived off, thus the Nuggets still having a one-point lead with the ball and close to 55 seconds left in the game.

This play made Westbrook reach the 30-point mark on the night and more importantly, it gave the Oklahoma City Thunder a 102-101 lead with under a minute left in the game.

Some may feel that one play doesn't determine the outcome of a game, but there are others that differ. This play late in the fourth quarter changed the Nuggets players' way of thinking and their play on the court.

If the basket was waived off, the Nuggets mentality would have been to run the clock down as far as possible while still getting a good look for a basket or getting fouled by a Thunder player. Instead, the Nuggets players rushed their shots and had to commit fouls to get the basketball back.

On the ensuing Nuggets possession, Kenyon Martin rushed a deep two-point shot that he did not make and at this point it was clear that the game was unraveling for Denver on their way to a Game 1 loss with a score of 107-103, Oklahoma City Thunder.

Who knows? Maybe the Nuggets still lose that game, even if the right call had been made, by the heroics of Westbrook or Durant. The fact is, though, now Denver is down one game in what seems to be an evenly matched series, on a controversial call that changed the rest of this game and possibly the series.

Denver will look to tie up the series 1-1 when they play Game 2 against Oklahoma City on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET). As of now, it appears that Arron Afflalo (hamstring) will sit that game out as well so Wilson Chandler will get the start at shooting guard for the Nuggets once again.