League finds no fault with late calls in Lakers-Nuggets
The NBA endorsed the calls made by officials during the final two minutes of the Lakers’ 101-99 playoff loss at Denver on Tuesday night.
LeBron James and the Lakers complained shortly after losing on a buzzerbeater by Denver’s Jamal Murray and falling behind 2-0 in the series.
In the two-minute report the league issues assessing officiating decisions made late in games, the sole error the NBA flagged was that Denver’s Nikola Jokic should have been called for a defensive three-second violation with 1:53 left in the game and the Lakers leading 93-92. Jokic and the Nuggets clogged the passing lanes around Anthony Davis on the play. Austin Reaves missed a threepointer late in the shot clock and Denver got the rebound.
James was perplexed when referees called him for a foul on a Murray drive with 57.1 seconds left. Murray made both free throws to tie the score 97-97.
The two-minute report stated James extended his forearm and initiated contact with Murray’s front, which affected his drive to the basket. “The illegal contact occurs prior to Murray’s gather and a non-shooting foul is correctly assessed,” the report read.
The NBA publishes reports only evaluating calls in the final two minutes of games and didn’t address other calls the Lakers protested. Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. was called for a shooting foul on D’Angelo Russell late in the third quarter, only for the call to be overturned after a challenge by Nuggets coach Michael Malone.
The Lakers disagreed. “That’s a foul,” Russell tweeted later, “we all saw it on national television.”
James vented his frustration about the replay center that reviews contested calls.
“I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest . ... D-Lo clearly gets hit in the face on a drive. What the f— do we have a replay center for if it’s going to go [like that]? It doesn’t make sense to me,” James said.
“... And then I just saw what happened with the Sixers-Knicks game too. Like, what are we doing? ... It’s ... stupid.”
Foul calls missed
Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey was fouled twice before his turnover that led to the go-ahead three-pointer by Donte DiVincenzo in the New York Knicks’ victory over the 76ers in Monday’s Game 2, the NBA said.
The league also said 76ers coach Nick Nurse twice attempted to call timeouts that were “neither recognized nor granted by the officials” during the possession. The 76ers planned to file a grievance.
The 76ers led by five before Jalen Brunson’s threepointer with 27 seconds remaining. Then Maxey was swarmed on the inbounds and lost the ball.
Brunson finished with 24 points despite going eight for 29 from the field. Josh Hart had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and DiVincenzo scored 19 points. Maxey, named the NBA’s most improved player Tuesday, had 35 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Joel Embiid had 34 points and 10 rebounds.
Also
Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf ) sat out Game 2 of Milwaukee’s series against Indiana . ... Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points, and Cleveland outlasted Orlando 96-86 on Monday for a 2-0 series lead.