Did Christian Braun call timeout when Nuggets didn’t have any? Steve Kerr rips refs for not calling technical foul

The Nuggets made their own luck toward the end of a 119-115 win over the Warriors on Tuesday, flying after loose balls and making scrappy defensive plays to engineer a game-ending 10-0 run in the last 2 minutes, 30 seconds.

But whether or not they earned it, luck did play a role.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr criticized the referees for not issuing a technical foul against the Nuggets after Christian Braun seemingly attempted to call a timeout when his team had none remaining. With Denver protecting a four-point lead in the last five seconds of regulation, Braun went parallel to the ground, diving to retrieve a long rebound. When he rolled over on his stomach with possession of the ball, he appeared to briefly make a “T” gesture before Andrew Wiggins tried to steal the ball.

A technical foul against Denver would have resulted in a free throw and possession for Golden State — an opportunity to erase the two-score deficit. Instead, the play was whistled dead for a jump ball with 1.9 seconds remaining.

“Braun called a timeout. … Everybody saw it except for the three guys we hire to do the games, and that makes me angry,” Kerr said. “That’s a technical foul. They don’t have a timeout left. Technical foul. We shoot a free throw. We get the ball. We’ve got a chance to win the game. They all told me they didn’t see it. He dives on the floor, rolls over and he goes ‘timeout.’ It’s up to the referees to see (it). That’s why we have three of them. Somebody’s gotta see it.”

Crew chief Tyler Ford said in a pool report conducted by The Denver Post that Braun “never fully or clearly signaled for a timeout, therefore a timeout was not recognized.” When asked if the officials had an opportunity to consult about whether Braun’s signal was or wasn’t clear, Ford said, “The crew would have the ability to conference and discuss if anyone saw a signal, but no one clearly saw a signal given.”

As for the alleged culprit, Braun pleads innocent.

“I knew — we talked about, we didn’t have any timeouts,” he told The Post. “So I had the ball on the ground, and the refs didn’t say timeout, so it’s not a timeout, and we ended up winning the game.”

But did he try to call one?

“Nah,” he said. “It might’ve looked like it, maybe. I was fumbling the ball on the ground a little bit. My hands moved. But the ref didn’t call it, so it’s not a timeout.”

With the late comeback, the Nuggets (11-8) avoided falling to .500 at home this season and extended their head-to-head win streak to eight against Golden State. It wasn’t the first time they’ve hoodwinked the Warriors this calendar year, either. In January, they rallied from down 18 in the last seven minutes to set up Nikola Jokic’s 39-foot buzzer-beater. These theatrics were tame by comparison: an 11-point margin with 6:13 to play, followed by a 21-6 closing run.

“To win in this league, it’s not always gonna be pretty,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “And we needed a win.”

Jokic was central again. He scored 15 of the team’s 29 points in the fourth quarter, making 6 of 7 shots including a game-tying jumper with 1:17 left. His defense was equally vital. Fighting around screens has been an inconsistency among the Nuggets’ guards this season. It’s a flaw that can prove especially vexing against the ruthlessly quick trigger of Steph Curry. His release does not suffer slow pokes. There is perhaps no other matchup more important for Jokic to meet the ball-handler at the level of the screen. Buying his teammates recovery time maintains the structural integrity of Denver’s defensive system.

Jokic went for five steals, bringing his total to nine in his last two games against the Warriors.

“I thought he did a great job in his levels, all night long,” Malone said. “Guarding pick-and-roll after pick-and-roll.”

Jokic also conjured his only block of the night when the result depended on it most — with Jonathan Kuminga driving for a game-tying bucket with 35 seconds to go. The clutch defensive play was one of several made by the Nuggets late. Jamal Murray, targeted by Golden State on switches, provided a block of his own against Kuminga, right at the two-minute mark as Denver trailed 115-111. He was also credited with the game-saving steal for scooping up a loose ball with 22 seconds left and the same two-point lead that Jokic’s block had preserved.

“I’m not worried about ‘Mal. ‘Mal can guard,” Aaron Gordon told The Post. “‘Mal knows how to guard.”

Russell Westbrook deserved as much of the credit for Golden State’s decisive turnover if not more. He was the defender matched up against Wiggins, the defender who threw himself at the ball the instant Wiggins slipped, the defender who dirtied his hands long enough for Murray to clean up the play. That’s precisely Westbrook’s job. He had checked in 10 seconds earlier as a defensive sub.