The Knicks lost their third consecutive game on Monday night, as their comeback effort in Houston fell just short. However, the outcome might have been different if not for an error by the officiating crew during the game’s decisive final seconds.
With the score tied at 103 on the final possession of regulation, Rockets guard Aaron Holiday corralled a loose ball and fired up a desperation fade-away three-pointer as time expired (Twitter video link). The shot missed, but Knicks guard Jalen Brunson was called for a foul and Holiday made two game-winning free throws with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.
After the final buzzer sounded, crew chief Ed Malloy admitted in an interview with pool reporter Fred Katz of The Athletic that Brunson should not have been whistled for a foul. A no-call would have sent the game to overtime.
“After seeing it during postgame review, the offensive player was able to return to a normal playing position on the floor,” Malloy said. “The contact, which occurred after the release of the ball, therefore is incidental and marginal to the shot attempt and should not have been called.”
Knicks players and head coach Tom Thibodeau were relatively muted in their criticisms of the officiating after the game, clearly not looking to give the NBA a reason to fine them. Brunson repeatedly – and sarcastically – referred to the game-deciding foul as a “great call,” while Thibodeau said, “If you look at the film, you see it.”
After watching the Rockets go to the foul line 33 times while the Knicks attempted just 12 free throws, Thibodeau offered some broader thoughts about the way the game is refereed, as Katz details.
“The thing with the officials — this is the way I feel about that, in general — is I don’t really care how tight the game is called,” Thibodeau said. “You can call it tight or you can call it loose. I just want consistency to be the same. And they have a job. They have to control and manage the game. That’s their No. 1 responsibility. They have to use their judgment, and I have respect for that. It didn’t go our way tonight.”
As Katz notes, the Knicks could technically file a protest, but a successful protest requires the team to prove that a rule was misapplied, not just that a judgment call was wrong, so it would almost certainly be futile.
The banged-up Knicks, who lost yet another player – Donte DiVincenzo (hamstring) – on Monday due to an injury, have one more game on their schedule before the All-Star break. They’ll play on Wednesday in Orlando, then hope to come back healthier when their schedule resumes on February 22 in Philadelphia.
No surprise another bad call in the NBA. They need to make foul calls better defined instead of the marginal contact excuse. Like getting hit in the face is marginal contact to 2 minute warning a couple of weeks ago.
in a game decided by 4 pts or less, can we just make all last plays reviewable?
The game would never end lol
This is why you play 82 games and the regular season matters. Too fast, too human. How many calls do refs get right? Thibs showing class here.
Was amazed at how bad the game was called at the end. That’s typically a good crew, and they even reviewed the play to determine if the foul was conducted during regulation (although they can’t reverse the call), but could’ve at least told Thibs at the end they screwed up. It’s a shame the game ended up that way.
Malloy is NEVER “good”. And the FTAs were 33-12 Rockets.
Malloy is among the best . Usually v consistent, tons of experience and rarely hands out Ts
He’s one of the few that takes the time to explain and listen. Last night wasn’t that night.
Par for the course these days.
I know the Knicks have been shorthanded, but once again Thibs running his players into the ground during the regular season comes back to bite him. DDV, a guy with a pretty extensive injury history, playing over 40mins a game even after reinforcements arrived is ludicrous. The man simply can’t help himself.
What a brain dead take. How many contending teams are running more than a 9 man rotation especially with 3 starters and top reserve out?
Burks played 17mins. McBride 5. Bojan 23. There were more minutes to go around. No excuse for playing Donte 41 of 43 possible minutes on the heels of having played him that many minutes the last half dozen games prior (which was more understandable before Burks and Bojan arrived). Regular season seeding isn’t going to matter much if guys end up missing the playoffs with significant injuries.
With that said, I will acknowledge the All-Star break coming up does present an opportunity for guys to rest up. Just have to hope his hamstring injury is more of a short-term issue.
Exactly.. You don’t sprint the whole marathon, if you’re not able to. As you don’t do like Clips last season; that’s another extreme..
A 2k’er take, specifically. Nobody who’s coached or even played the game on any significant level would find the thought anything but laughable. Yet, it’s out there, and resurfaces from time to time.
In particular, Thibs vs the 2k’ers is a long standing battle. Unfortunately for the 2k’ers, it’s been one sided against them. At last count, they’re still winless. But 2k’ers are a feisty bunch, and will at times still rise to do battle. I guess they simply can’t themselves.
Every sport has adopted the instant review. I feel that last 2 minutes of each half, a controversial play can be reviewed once by each team. After that, referees have the choice of a review with any play that deems, “game changing”. Such as shoot beater, foul, or last contact with a player and the ball.
33-12 in free throw attempts? The Knicks done got Lakered!
Will Malloy send Thibs a “sleepless nights” email?
I believe the play was reviewed during the game by the refs. The problem is the reviewers. NBA refs are so obsessed with Silver’s points of emphasis that they no longer seem to know the basics. Regardless of body contortions, or who was moving in what direction, a foul still requires the initiation of impactful contact.
The bigger, or at least more systemic, issue is the FT disparity. This will continue to happen as long as the foul standards remain as ambiguous as they are, and the league doesn’t grade Refs based on consistency of calls between the two team within a given game. That’s how Refs (in all sports) were traditionally judged by players and coaches, as good or bad, probably still is. Not merely a FT issue, but 33-12 isn’t a good sign for their performance considering the way the game was played, i.e., similarly on both ends.
Play was reviewed for time, not the foul. The foul couldn’t be overturned and the Knicks were out of challenges.
Thibodeau: “I just want consistency to be the same.” I prefer ‘consistency’ to be different, everything is so much more existential that way.
It’d be nice if the NFL was the same, and the refs admitted how bad of a job they did in the Chiefs/49ers Super Bowl…
It’s one gm. Relax ……. This is why you need to learn ToCloseOut teams. Don’t ever leave it to refs. Knicks should be able to beat Rockets by playing smart. Injuries still annn be issue.
On a good note …….
Precious – 24 mins, 53% FG, 73% FT,
7.3 pts, 7 reb, good D
The trade that keeps on giving.