NBA acknowledges an incorrect call

After Buddy Hield’s foul against Jaylen Brown was overturned with the score tied and 3.2 seconds left in the Celtics’ 133-131 loss to the Pacers on Monday night in Indianapolis, Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said he was eager to see the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report, especially after Hield acknowledged to him that he had fouled Brown.

The report, which determines whether each call and non-call in the last two minutes of a close game was correct, did show that the Celtics were dealt a bad hand, but not on the play most were expecting.

It was ruled that Hield’s block on Brown was clean, but that Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis should not have been whistled for a foul that led to Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin hitting the winning free throws with 0.6 seconds left.

Hield slid behind Brown on the right baseline and blocked his potential winner with 3.2 seconds left, but also hit his head.

“On review that contact was correctly deemed incidental,” the report states. “As the rulebook makes clear, the mere fact that contact occurs does not necessarily constitute a foul.”

However, according to the report, Pacers center Myles Turner should have been called for an illegal screen on Brown with two seconds left, when the score was still tied. Then, the report said, the shooting foul on Porzingis was incorrectly called.

“Porzingis is above the ball and legally contests Mathurin’s shot attempt, with some incidental arm contact occurring concurrent with the block,” the report states.

The officials reviewed the play at the time to determine how much time should remain on the clock. But the Celtics already had unsuccessfully used a challenge so were unable to challenge the foul call. Mathurin made the first two free throws before intentionally missing the third. After a timeout, Derrick White lobbed a pass to Luke Kornet, but his tip-in attempt was off.