The New York Knicks went up 3-1 in their first-round series against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday afternoon, but the game wasn’t without its share of controversy. Throughout the game, it was evident that the officials were letting players be much more physical than usual, which resulted in a major missed call on the final possession of the game.
Pistons guard Tim Hardaway Jr. drew contact from New York’s Josh Hart with a pump fake as Hardaway fired the potential winning shot with 0.3 seconds with the Knicks up by one point.
The shot was no good, and the Pistons and their fans were left waiting for a call that never occurred. Crew chief David Guthrie told pool reporters after the game that a foul should’ve, in fact, been called on Hart.
“During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play,” Guthrie said, according to ESPN. “After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr., and a foul should have been called.”
Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t have to wait for Guthrie’s confirmation, though. “There was contact on Tim Hardaway’s jump shot. [Hart] left his feet,” Bickerstaff said following the game.
“Did I make contact with him? Yeah, I made contact with him,” Hart said of the play in question. “Was it legal? I don’t know. We’ll see in the Last Two Minute Report.”
“What do you want me to say?” Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns said when asked about Guthrie’s admission that a foul should have been called on Hart. “We’re going back to Madison Square Garden. We got a win.”
It’ll be interesting to see how the Pistons respond to the bad break.
