Another controversial late-game call stunned the NBA world and prompted yet another officiating show.
Many analysts believe that the referee called a moving screen violation against the Pacers that ultimately clinched the Knicks’ 121-117 victory in Game 1 against Indiana at the Garden on Monday. There wasn’t.
That’s without even mentioning the miscall the umpires conceded on a kicked ball that could have resulted in a five- or six-point swing in a tied game in the final minutes.
“The accusations against (Myles) Turner were reprehensible,” said Celtics fan Bill Simmons of The Ringer. Posted in X. “come.”
The Knicks’ victory, the second in four home games this postseason, was overshadowed by the sloppy officiating that helped the Knicks win.
Umpires acknowledged an error in the Knicks’ Game 2 win over the 76ers when they led the series 2-0, and Monday’s officiating gave the Knicks a 1-0 lead.
The Knicks acknowledged that they missed the travel of 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, who helped with his late heroics in Game 5, and it was the opposite of officials’ incompetence.
The NBA has already acknowledged a miscall on a kickball that prevented the Pacers’ fast break in the 115-all game, but the moving violation in the final 15 seconds is facing even more scrutiny.
With the Knicks leading 118-117, Turner came to set a screen on Donte DiVincenzo, but the referee ruled that Turner committed a play violation.
DiVincenzo appears to have exaggerated the contact, which may have influenced the call.
TNT broadcaster Stan Van Gundy couldn’t believe the call.
“That’s shocking. At this point in the game, you don’t see that call. I mean, never,” Van Gundy said. “That’s a great acting job. We have a lot of great actors here in New York City. You see them all the time on Broadway. It’s a great acting job as you can see. He was technically moving a little bit. Wow. -Did Donte DiVincenzo play that?
Indiana challenged the decision, but it was not overturned, and the Knicks scored the final three points to stop the game.
Details of the call will be included in the NBA’s Last 2 Minutes Report, but experts seem to have two main questions about the call.
The first is simply that it cannot be called a foul on the spot.
The most likely consensus seems to be that even if Turner was moving slightly on the spot, that foul could be called on each play during the game, similar to offensive holding in the NFL.
A similar call ruined the University of Iowa’s Final Four victory over UConn and drew criticism.
“You don’t make decisions like that at this stage of the game. It sucks!” ESPN’s Jay Williams tweeted.
Yahoo’s Tom Haverstraw talked about how the referees overturned their prior decision on Jalen Brunson due to enough contact, but later ruled that Turner crossed the line.
“Why was Brunson’s block not a foul on review, but that moving screen was?” Posted by Havastrow. “Please don’t answer that.”
Some seemed to think DiVincenzo had failed.
“That’s a scary call.” Posted by Doug Gottlieb. “I love all of the members of Nova, except for how much they fail.”
The general consensus among analysts seems to be that the referee should swallow the whistle and leave the outcome to his team.
“Barring a bad call, the Knicks would probably win that game. But you can’t call it an illegal screen and expect it to be the story of the game.” Andrew Perloff tweeted. “The officials screwed everyone over.”
Added Knicks fan Rob PerezX’s WorldwideWob, aka WorldwideWob, said, “I don’t think I’ve done a good job of this, and you can’t convince me otherwise.” The simple answer and solution to Myles Turner’s screen is never to call it that.
