A wild win for the Boston Celtics has been tainted by the Last Two Minute report that followed. Here’s why you shouldn’t sweat it.
The Boston Celtics added to their list of games they had no business winning with their 100-99 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Marcus Morris stole victory from the jaws of defeat with a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining after Carmelo “making $27 million next year” Anthony missed two free throws.
The list of disappointing losses for the Thunder and unlikely wins for the Celtics is extensive, yet the Last Two Minute report suggests, to some, that the Celtics didn’t deserve to win.
Per Adam Himmelsbach on Twitter:
"NBA’s Last 2 Minute Report from last night says Marcus Morris should have been called for a 5-second violation before final inbounds pass, and that he traveled before hitting his game-winning 3. Also, enhanced video showed Terry Rozier traveled twice. No missed violations on OKC."
The key words here are enhanced video. Yes, Morris clearly traveled if you get a good replay angle in slow motion, such as this one:
Except it never went to replay, as it never should have. The closing seconds of games like this take several minutes to get through as it is, and the NBA certainly doesn’t need more in-game replay reviews. Seriously, think about keeping track of how many times a commentator says “C’mon now. What are we even reviewing? Get on with it.” from now until the end of the season.
For the record, I’m on the bandwagon that thinks the officiating has not lived up to the NBA’s standards this year. But the Last Two Minute report isn’t the place to bring that fight, especially when it is specified in the report itself that certain missed calls aren’t immediately noticeable without enhanced video.
If you look at the referee closest to Morris, you’ll see that he’s watching Morris’s hand to see if he gets hit on the shot attempt, which seems to be pretty standard officiating in that situation. Typically, fouls aren’t called on potential buzzer-beaters, but there was enough time left on the clock to know that OKC would get another chance if the shot went in, so there was some precedent for a foul to be called if necessary.
Or, look at it this way: would any sort of post game report make you feel better about this?
Sigh.
What’s really egregious is when Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s giant foot steps out of bounds on a game-winning play earlier in the season and it doesn’t get called. But guess what? We don’t need enhanced video for that, so the officiating report isn’t needed. It’s a lose-lose situation for the refs, because the reports only bring up violations that they aren’t expected to see, or violations that should’ve been called, but weren’t.
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This time, the whistles — or lack thereof — went the way of the Celtics. Eventually they won’t, so next time the officiating report pops up on your social media feed, don’t freak out. The only reason it popped up is because of details too insignificant to have been noticed without it.