The Los Angeles Lakers won a tremendous game against the Denver Nuggets in almost miraculous fashion. They were down by three with five seconds to go and managed to tie the game with a play in which Austin Reaves made a free throw, missed the second, grabbed his rebound and scored. Then, in overtime, Luka Doncic decided the game with a great game-winning basket but… maybe overtime should never have been played.
The NBA introduced the ‘Last Two Minute Report‘, which is the report of the last two minutes of each game in which all the plays called or not by the referees are collected and where it is appreciated if what was indicated, or not, is correct or if there have been failures. And in the Lakers-Nuggets game there was one that could have been crucial.
With 9.2 seconds remaining and the Nuggets leading 113-116, the referees called a foul on Spencer Jones when he stole the ball near the baseline from Austin Reaves. The foul, protested by the Nuggets, resulted in a trip to the free throw line for Reaves, who took advantage with both scores (115-116). Then came two free throws by Cameron Johnson (115-118) and Reaves’ final three-point play (free throw and basket after rebound).
But according to the report, which is official from the NBA, the foul on Spencer Jones should not have been called because in the image it can be seen that the Nuggets player touches the ball. What the report does not say is whether the ball should have been put into play by the Lakers or by the Nuggets, which would be a turnover by the home team. In the images it can be seen that it is Jones who touches the ball, and therefore the throw-in would be yellow. But not two free throws, which could have changed the outcome of the game.
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