The NBA league office declared that officials were right to withold their whistles in the waning seconds of the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s Cavaliers-Pistons Game 5 in Detroit, won by Cleveland, 117-113, in OT .
In a tie game with about a second left in regulation, Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen appeared to step on and trip Detroit’s Ausar Thompson as the latter went for the loose ball.
Rather than call a foul and send Thompson to the line, the referees let play go on, sending the game to overtime.
The Pistons were incensed after the game at the no-call.
“[Jarrett Allen] fouled Ausar,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said during the postgame press conference. “It’s clear. He trips him when he’s going for a loose ball. End of game situation, that’s tough.”
“That’s a foul,” the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham said. “It’s been a foul the whole game — wasn’t a foul at that time.”
“We, the Pistons, we know it was a foul,” Detroit’s Daniss Jenkins added. “But we don’t expect that.”
According to the league’s Last Two Minutes Report, Allen’s contact did not warrant a whistle.
Jarrett Allen appears to step on Ausar Thompson’s leg during a loose ball.
The Pistons weren’t happy with this no-call during the final seconds of regulation in their Game 5 loss to the Cavaliers. @bkoz02/X
“Allen and Thompson legally step to the same spot while pursuing the loose ball [before either player has possession], and both lose their balance from the marginal contact,” the report read.
The league’s ruling echoes what crew chief Tony Brothers told a pool reporter after the game.
“During live play, both players were going for the ball and there was incidental contact with the legs with no player having possession of the ball,” Brothers said.
With the win, the Cavaliers will have a chance to close out the series in Cleveland on Friday, with the Knicks waiting in the Eastern Conference finals.
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