Kyle Lowry, Raptors fall on wrong end of offensive foul call in loss to Kings

Just as it appeared the Raptors were about to close in on the Sacramento Kings, the referees had other ideas.

Down 105-99 with 25.5 seconds to go, Kyle Lowry hit a three-pointer with Kings guard Ben McLemore contesting the shot and a foul was called.

Lowry heading to the free throw line with an opportunity to get Toronto within two, right?

Wrong.

The call went against Lowry, wiping the three points off the board. To add even more salt in the wound, the Raptors point guard was handed his second technical foul of the game and ejected for showing up the official. The referee on the near sideline judged Lowry to have kicked his legs out towards McLemore looking to draw contact. By the letter of the law, that's an offensive foul.

The law also says it has to be a deliberate kicking motion. It looks like Lowry is doing nothing more than going through his regular follow-through.

The reaction to the Lowry call on Twitter from most of those watching was justifiably negative.

Neither Lowry or head coach Dwane Casey, were willing to discuss the decision any deeper postgame, comments courtesy of TSN 1050's Raptors reporter Josh Lewenberg:

The blown call doesn't excuse getting outscored by Sacramento in the game's first three quarters, but it did effectively end any real chance the Raptors had of pulling off a comeback.

Rudy Gay scored 24 points in his first game against Toronto since being traded just less than two months ago as Sacramento held on for a 109-101 win.