The NBA has made yet another big mistake during a crucial game-winning moment, marking the third time this week.
On Monday, the Milwaukee Bucks edged out the Houston Rockets in a thrilling finish. The Bucks were down 100-99 when Giannis Antetokounmpo blocked a shot from Rockets center Alperen Sengun. Bucks center Brook Lopez grabbed the rebound and passed the ball back to Antetokounmpo, who quickly gave it to Damian Lillard. Lillard then drove to the basket and scored the game-winning layup, giving Milwaukee a 101-100 victory.
However, on Tuesday, the NBA admitted that a key mistake was made in that final play. According to the league’s review of the last two minutes, Giannis should have been called for being out of bounds when he received the pass from Lopez. A screenshot shows that more than half of Giannis’ left foot was clearly out of bounds when he got the ball.
This error was significant. Since Lopez had already secured possession of the ball after the block, Houston should have gotten the ball back with no shot clock (as there were less than 24 seconds left in the game). That would have put the Bucks in a tough spot, likely forcing them to foul and making it much harder for them to win, even though they still had two timeouts remaining.
This missed call is part of a troubling trend. Earlier in the week, referees failed to catch a travel before Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics hit a game-winner against the Toronto Raptors. Then, on Saturday, another travel was overlooked when Minnesota’s Julius Randle hit a buzzer-beater to defeat the Phoenix Suns. Now, with this out-of-bounds mistake involving Antetokounmpo, it marks three major missed calls in just a few days.