The NBA’s latest two-minute report of Friday’s Chicago Bulls game against the Wizards, which Washington won 102-100, featured an incorrect dismissal.
But it was expensive.
The report, which is one of the next day’s litanies, doles out the league’s problems in reviewing vet umpire calls and non-calls in close games, Wizards forward Anthony Gill said Saturday afternoon. should have been called for a shooting foul on the DeMar DeRozan 3.-point attempt with 2.6 seconds left which, if made, would have put the Bulls ahead 103-102.
“Gill contests DeRozan’s jump attempt and initiates contact with his foot before DeRozan returns to the ground,” the report read.
Here’s another look at the piece. Contact is clear to see:
These types of fouls have been a point of attention for the NBA in recent years, to protect the landing space from jump shooters and prevent injury. On this one, the referees missed.
But unfortunately for aggrieved fans, these reports are only published for the sake of transparency. There’s no way to go back in time and award DeRozan the three free throw attempts he should have received — and which, obviously, would have likely tipped the game result in favor of the Bulls.
And, before you ask, there was no way Billy Donovan could challenge the no-call, even though he had a coaching challenge in his pocket at the time. Challenges can only be issued when a faulty call is made made, not to cancel a no-call.
Thus, the Bulls march, with a 1-1 record, to the home opener against the Cavaliers on Saturday night.
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