The Cavaliers won a thriller last night in Detroit 117-113 at the end of overtime.
Following the game, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff criticized the referees for missing a foul call in the final seconds of regulation.
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Pistons star Cade Cunningham shared the same sentiment as Bickerstaff, urging that Ausar Thompson should’ve received free throws following a tangle up with Jarrett Allen at the end of regulation.
Thompson himself shared a more neutral stance, as he explained he wasn’t given an explanation for the fouls, or lack thereof, but shared that the team cannot blame the refs. Even Pistons backup point guard Daniss Jenkins said that they know it was a foul but they don’t expect to get those calls because they’re the Pistons.
The reality of the situation surrounding the officiating is much less controversial
Whenever the NBA has close games that could be decided by a few calls down the stretch of any game, they release a Last Two Minute Report to assess whether or not there were any missed calls.
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The NBA league office released the Last Two Minute Report from game 5, and it showed that there were no missed calls.
Pertaining to the controversial final play of regulation that had the Pistons riled up, the NBA ruled that both Allen and Thompson legally step to the same spot in pursuit of a loose ball, before either player gained possession, and both lost their balance from the marginal contact.
This was exactly what Tony Brothers and his crew ruled in-game, and it was also exactly how Brothers justified himself in the Poole Report.
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This clarification from the league office should give the Cavaliers renewed confidence regarding how they closed out that game. Especially after so many Pistons questioned the officiating.
The Cavs are no strangers to the embarrassment of having their head coach lambast the referee crew, just to be proven wrong by the following day’s Last Two Minute Report, as the guilty party this time around was former Cavaliers head coach Bickerstaff.
Oftentimes following these emotional Bickerstaff outbursts, the team would struggle to remain confident.
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Cavs fans can only hope that after yet another outburst led to the league office evaluating the officiating, just to prove Bickerstaff wrong, that the confidence seeps out of the Pistons like it used to under Bickerstaff’s Cavaliers.
With the Cavs picking up their first road win, Friday’s game will bring a chance to close out the series. If the Cavs are able to defeat the Pistons one more time, they will advance to face the Knicks, who swept the Philadelphia 76ers in four games.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/cavaliers/onsi as NBA Final Two Minute Report Shows No Missed Calls In Cavs Game 5 Win vs. Pistons.
