NBA rejects Jazz’s claim that Heat stole road win

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Miami Heat took flight to the final stop of their surprisingly satisfying three-game western swing blissfully unaware they had left in their wake one of the more controversial finishes of the NBA season.

The Utah Jazz, by contrast, were seething, especially in light of the splitsecond-too-late putback basket by center Rudy Gobert that could have instead given them the victory Thursday night at Vivant Smart Home Arena.

“There was,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said in the wake of the Heat’s 111-110 victory, “a number of things late in the game that were a little bit confusing.”

Ultimately, the NBA officiating report issued Friday not only rejected the Jazz’s primary claims, but said that of the four incorrect calls in the game’s final two minutes, three incorrectly went in the Jazz’s favor.

Most significantly, the NBA officiating reporting did not cite any issues with the timing of the game’s closing sequence other than to confirm that a goahead Jazz attempt correctly was ruled after the expiration of play.

Nothing to the Jazz was more confounding than the timing of the game’s final sequence, with Utah given possession down by the final margin with 3.9 seconds to play after an errant attempt by Heat guard Goran Dragic to pass to center Hassan Whiteside in the lane.

On that play, the Jazz got a steal from forward Gordon Hayward with 4.9 seconds to play. The Jazz’s timeout request, however, was granted with 3.9 seconds to play. Utah’s contention was that a potential 24-second violation on the Heat should have allowed them more time, even though the Heat’s final possession began on a defensive rebound with 27.9 seconds to play.

Asked why the clock was not reviewed for the exact amount of time remaining following the final change of possession, referee Ed Malloy, the officiating crew chief, later would tell a pool reporter, “We don’t have a trigger that allows us to look to see if a timeout occurs prior to the expiration of the shot clock.”

The only mention of the timing aspect on the NBA’s postgame report issued Friday was, “After communicating with the Replay Center, the ruling on the floor (FGM after the buzzer) is confirmed.”

Had a 24-second violation been called — correctly or otherwise — the officials could have gone to replay over the timing. There is no such trigger with a team calling a timeout.

From there, the Jazz were forced to call a second consecutive timeout when unable to inbound, ultimately getting a 12-foot pull-up jumper from Hayward that was off.

But not from the Jazz’s perspective, with Gobert securing the offensive rebound with two-tenths of a second to play and putting in a putback attempt that was ruled — this time upon video replay — to have been too late.

“We thought there was more time on the game clock on the last possession,” Snyder said.

There also was a Jazz contention that forward Joe Johnson was fouled by the Heat’s Tyler Johnson on the late scramble.

Instead, the NBA’s officiating report said it was Joe Johnson who should have been called for a foul on the rebound scramble, noting, “Johnson (UTA) clamp the arm of Johnson (MIA) into his own body during rebounding.”

The NBA also ruled Gobert should have been called for an illegal screen and a 3-second violation in the final two minutes, plays that went uncalled, while Dragic should have been cited for a traveling violation that went uncalled.

Among the reasons for the Jazz’s consternation was that the Heat had called timeout on their final possession with 13.2 seconds remaining — with eight seconds showing on the shot clock at that time. While the shot clock at that stage does not display tenths of seconds, that made it appear a 5.2-seconds difference between game clock and shot clock, with the Heat never getting the ball to the rim on their final possession.

“We haven’t gotten an explanation on anything, the shot clock, the game clock,” said Snyder.

After the game, Gobert said in Utah’s locker room: “I think it was supposed to be five seconds or so. I think we got a pretty good shot and an offensive rebound, but not enough time.”

He later posted on Twitter, “It still amazes me that those kind of things happen in the best league in the world.”

For his part, Whiteside was certain he was fouled on the play that resulted in that Dragic turnover in the waning seconds.

Hayward said he had to wait an extra split second on the attempt because of the defensive hustle of Heat forward James Johnson.