Clippers clock operator starts timer early on the Wizards’ final play

The Wizards had to replay their final possession because the clock started early. It was a bizarre ending to a great game.

The Wizards and Clippers went down to the wire in their afternoon matchup on Saturday, but a late-game clock issue forced a situation where the game’s final play had to be replayed.

Washington was down one after Lou Williams hit a cold-blooded triple over Bradley Beal, and head coach Scott Brooks called a timeout and drew up a play to get Beal — the best Wizard without John Wall on the floor — a clean look at the rim. Washington executed the play and got Beal a look at a floater, but the final buzzer sounded before the shot left his hand.

On further review, though, the clock began before Beal ever touched the ball.

Officials reviewed the play and called for a retry. Only this time, there were 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock instead of 1.2, and Tomas Satoransky’s inbound position had been changed from closer to midcourt to in the corner. The responsibility of starting a play on time falls on the shot clock operator’s shoulders, and that person had a quick trigger.

The Clippers’ announcers called it “Home cookin’.”

Washington’s final possession fell in the hands of Marcin Gortat behind the three-point line — with a hand in his face.

That was an odd end to a great game

Beal had just come up the floor and gotten an and-one going right up Wesley Johnson’s chest for a layup when Sweet Lou lulled his man to sleep before pulling up for a tough three-pointer from the top of the key.

The game was set up for Beal to come down and fire back, make or miss. But he never got a chance. The clock started before he even got to touch the ball, and fans were robbed of a true ending to what turned into a really fun game to watch.

The NBA is probably going to review the end to this one. Whether you’re a Wizards fan or a Clippers fan, that ending didn’t sit well. The corner is the toughest spot to inbound from, and Satoransky got moved when he shouldn’t have. And Brooks was forced to draw up a different play after getting his shooter an open look the first go-round.

There’s no telling if Beal would have made that floater, or if it even would have counted. It seemed he was much further than 1.2 seconds along by the time he pump-faked, took a dribble and threw it up there. But the Wizards’ first play got scrapped when it shouldn’t have.

Let’s hope it wasn’t any ‘home cookin’.