The officials got it wrong, and they admitted after the game they got it wrong. Today, the league confirmed what we all know.
Wednesday’s controversial finish to the Sixers’ 108-107 loss to the Clippers was dotted with questionable calls, none more so than the no-call on Kelly Oubre’s drive to the basket at the final horn.
Oubre and head coach Nick Nurse believed Oubre was fouled on the final play. After the game, Sixers pool reporter Keith Pompey asked crew chief of the game officials Kevin Scott why a foul wasn’t called.
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“On the last play on the floor, in real time the crew interpreted that play as the defender jumping vertically,” Scott said. “However, in post-game video review we did observe some slight drift to his left by the defender George, and a foul should have been ruled.”
The NBA releases a L2M (Last two Minutes) Report for every relatively close game the day after the game is played. They analyze the video from multiple angles, and evaluate each call and non-call. Thursday afternoon’s L2M report from this game didn’t show too much different from what was called by the officials during the game.
Aside from the game-deciding no-call at the final moment, the report stated that the officials missed just one other call in the final two minutes.
With 54 seconds left, after a missed Amir Coffey free throw, Paul George knocked the ball out of Oubre’s hands and out of bounds. A replay review on the court overturned the call, and the refs ruled the ball last touched Oubre.
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That call was ruled correct, but prior to that controversial call, the report ruled that George fouled Oubre, impeding his chance to pursue the missed free throw.
The foul the L2M claims was missed looked less clear than the out of bounds play that followed it.
This time of year, wins are very important. In the Eastern Conference, there is just a 3.5-game different between the 5-seed and the 8-seed. In the West, there’s a three-game difference between fourth and eighth.
There’s no guarantee that Oubre would have made both free throws he should have been given at the end of regulation, or even one of them. But he was never given the chance.