The New York Knicks were benefactors of four blown calls made by the officiating crew in their 104-101 win in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
Per Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports, the final two-minute report after the game stated that Tyrese Maxey was fouled twice on his drive off an inbounds pass with 27 seconds left in regulation. Here’s what the league said about both fouls:
“Brunson (NYK) pulls Maxey’s (PHI) jersey away from his body, which affects Maxey’s ability to secure the pass. Hart (NYK) steps forward into Maxey’s (PHI) space and initiates lower body contact that causes Maxey to lose his balance and fall to the floor.”
Brunson’s tug on Maxey’s jersey was slight and not the easiest infraction to spot with the naked eye, but Hart did make contact with the 2024 All-Star which led to him hitting the ground.
Knicks were able to take the lead down the stretch due to two blown calls
The league felt it necessary to own up to what they deemed as two missed calls that could have greatly impacted the outcome of the game down the stretch.
Had a foul been called, Maxey would have gone to the line as the Knicks were in the bonus with six team fouls. Instead, DiVincenzo got two three-point looks and sank the second to put the Knicks up 102-101 before they finished the Sixers off by three points.
Refs missed two other calls that aided the Knicks late
The other two missed calls were a defensive three seconds against OG Anunoby and a foul given to Joel Embiid, both of which also came in the final two minutes of the game.
The missed whistles just add a string of poor officiating from the NBA’s referees. The Knicks found themselves on the wrong end of multiple missed late calls in the regular season, chiefly against the Houston Rockets which they protested to the league to no avail.
It’s unfortunate to see that such mishaps have carried over into the postseason where teams are vying for an NBA championship. The series ran the risk of being knotted up at 1-1, but the Knicks earned the win nonetheless and will ride the late-game momentum into Game 3 on Thursday night.