On Monday night, the New York Knicks came away with a 113-111 victory over the Detroit Pistons after a horrible missed call in the closing seconds of the game New York guard Donte DiVincenzo ran into Detroit forward Ausar Thompson causing him to lose possession of the ball. And the referees admit that they made a mistake.
After the game, Referee James Williams, the crew chief who was standing right next to the play but didn’t make the call, admitted that he and the referees made a mistake and a foul should have been called.
“Upon postgame review, we determined that Thompson gets to the ball first and then was deprived of the opportunity to gain possession of the ball,” James Williams said. “Therefore, a loose ball foul should have been whistled on New York’s Donte DiVincenzo.”
Josh Hart gets the go-ahead and-1 to take the lead with seconds left in the 4Q 😱
NYK-DET | Live on the NBA App
📲 https://t.co/Y71qEUtIzM pic.twitter.com/2LEiDCgjiM— NBA (@NBA) February 27, 2024
No foul called here caused the Pistons to lose. 😮
Were the refs right or did they cost the game? pic.twitter.com/8uJSXEIPA5— ML Basketball (@_MLBasketball) February 27, 2024
Pistons coach Monty Williams was absolutely outraged at the call after the game, believing that games have been called unfairly against his team all season.
“The absolute worst call of the season,” Williams said after the game according to ESPN.
“We had a chance to win the game, and a guy dove into Ausur’s legs and there was a no-call. That’s an abomination. You cannot miss that in an NBA game. Period. And I’m tired of talking about it. I’m tired of my guys asking, ‘What more can we do, Coach?’ That situation is Exhibit A to what we’ve been dealing with all season long, and enough’s enough.”
“You cannot dive into a guy’s legs in a big-time game like that and there be a no-call,” he continued. “It’s ridiculous, and we’re tired of it. We just want a fair game called. Period. And I’ve got nothing else to say. We want a fair game, and that was not fair.”
[ESPN]
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