NBA says referees missed 2 calls down the stretch in last night's Celtics game vs. Mavericks

In the NBA's Last Two Minute Report on last night's Celtics vs. Mavericks game, they admit to missing two calls, with each going against the Celtics. These reports aren't made available for all NBA games, but they are for what they define as close games.

Below is the league’s assessment of officiated events that occurred in the last two minutes of last night’s games which were within five points at the two-minute mark (and during overtime, where applicable). The plays assessed include all calls (whistles) and notable non-calls. Notable non-calls will generally be defined as material plays directly related to the outcome of a possession. Calls that are indirectly related to the outcome (e.g., a non-call on contact away from the play) and/or plays that are only observable with the help of a stop-watch, zoom or other technical support, but have some merit in reporting, are denoted with an *. The league may change an opinion after further review, particularly when a new video angle becomes available.

Nobody expects human referees to be perfect, but one call in particular that was missed appeared pretty obvious, and cost the Celtics a chance to win the game in regulation. After Jae Crowder drained three clutch free throws to tie the game at 98, Deron Williams inbounded the ball to Zaza Pachulia. He intended to get the ball back to a streaking Williams, who was covered by Marcus Smart, but Smart got in the way. This caused Pachulia to toss the ball into the back corner, where he retrieved it before any other player had touched the ball, and dribbled up court before heaving a hopeless buzzer beater attempt.

When Pachulia retrieved the ball there was about 2.5 seconds remaining, and had the travel call been made correctly the C's would have had one last chance to beat Dallas in regulation. It's a damn shame Tommy Heinsohn doesn't do away games.

The other missed call was on a Crowder drive with three minutes left in OT. The review states they missed a Dirk foul that would've put Jae at the line for two with the C's down three. Still frustrating, but probably not going to be enough to overcome the four straight threes that Dallas hit down the stretch.



Photo Credit: Kevin Jairaj/USATODAY Sports



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