WATCH: Damian Lillard Left Furious Over Referee’s Decision as Trail Blazers Fall 3 Points Short of Jazz

Being two points behind Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers had the ball in hand with just a few seconds left at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Utah on Friday. Damian Lillard released the ball from a layup in an attempt to level the scoring. But the ball didn’t make it to the rim.

Utah Jazz’s centre Rudy Gobert blocked the shot in mid-air. Or so was it called. Lillard kept looking for a ball tending decision that never came. Replays showed the ball clearly hitting the board before Gobert’s block.

In the context of the game, the referee spotting the goaltending could have had a huge effect. Also, the Trail Blazers could not have reviewed the decision as the rules state that defensive goaltending can only be looked at if the referee initially calls the violation.

Bogdan Bogdanovic left some hope for Portland when he missed one of his two free throws after Gary Trent Jr. committed a foul.

Portland, however, remained three points behind Utah as big man Caleb Swanigan launched an open three-pointer from the corner that wasn’t good enough.

“Just a shame that it was decided by an inexcusable missed call,” Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts said, as per a video obtained from Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake Tribune. “There’s no other way to describe it. They could have called a goaltending and reviewed it, but they swallowed their whistles on a play that was pretty obvious. It’s disappointing that such great effort was decided by that.”

Damian Lillard continued his scoring spree

Over the last few games, Lillard has been on top scoring form. On Friday, he continued his for  dropping 42 points on the night shooting 16-of-30. He also contributed with six rebounds and six assists in the 43 minutes that he played.