As promised, we went back and watched the tape of the game, first of all to
see if Rashad McCants was fouled as he said. Here's what we saw:
Most importantly, the camera was behind McCants, so we couldn't see any
contact in front. But we could get a pretty fair idea of what happened.
As he came downcourt, Redick and Duhon met him with a double team. He
tried a fake, and extended too far: his legs were simply too far in front for
him to balance.
Duhon had made a move for the ball, but we couldn't tell whether or not
McCants was fouled. As he began to slip, he did what anyone would do - he
tried not to. As he tried to regain his balance, the ball came
loose.
As this sequence of events was building, Redick's hand was high in the air,
and when the ball came loose, it was no closer to the ball than McCants' head.
After the ball came loose, all three players went after it, with Redick
diving to the floor. McCants leaned over to try and get it, but Redick had
already pounced.
So there was no way we can definitely say, from the angle we had, that he was
absolutely not fouled. However, it was pretty clear to us that he got himself
into an awkward position and couldn't get out of it easily.
What we think happened is that he instinctively started to put his left hand
back to brace himself, and the ball rolled out.
From there, it was a question of who wanted it more, and pretty clearly,
Redick was willing to dive for it, while McCants was content to stand and reach.
Even if you believe he was fouled, he dribbled into a double team, which
meant he had a teammate open, and when the ball popped out, he wasn't willing to
jump on the ground and fight for it: one dumb basketball move, and one lack of hustle move. Not a good way to close out a game.