Although he was counting Harden’s steps, Michael Grady, the announcer for the Timberwolves, could not help but giggle.

The “Last Two Minute Report” from the NBA following Sunday’s game between the Timberwolves and Clippers won’t matter because the important missed traveling call on James Harden occured with just over two minutes left in the game that saw the Clippers leave Minneapolis with an 89-88 win.

However, there is no denying the fact that the missed call was a significant one.

“This is the and-1, Jim Pete, that gave the Clippers the lead. “Take a look at Harden’s feet,” Michael Grady, the play-by-play announcer for the Timberwolves, encouraged analyst Jim Petersen to say when he was watching the tape. Then, he listed the number of illegal steps that Harden had taken: “One, two, three, four.”Milliseconds after Harden visibly travelled, he threw the ball to Kawhi Leonard, who scored, drew a foul, and sank the free throw to give the Clippers an 87-84 lead with 2 minutes and one second remaining in the game.

If the officials had called Harden for travelling, the Clippers would have never been able to earn those three points, and the Wolves would have been in possession of the ball with two minutes remaining on the clock and the game knotted.

The decision to not call a foul on Harden would have kept the pressure on the Clippers and altered the trajectory of the game’s last two minutes, but the decision to not call the foul on Harden created pressure for the Timberwolves.

In any case, it was a game that was played between two of the best teams in the Western Conference, and it was a matchup that may be played again in the NBA playoffs.