To no surprise, the NBA acknowledged a series of blown calls in the final two minutes of Thursday’s game at Toyota Center between the Houston Rockets and Miami Heat, who emerged victorious.
As everyone watching knew almost immediately, a ball ruled to be out of bounds off Houston’s Usman Garuba with 3.5 seconds remaining in a 3-point game was actually off Miami’s Orlando Robinson. The Rockets were out of replay challenges, so even though the incorrect call effectively ended the game and was immediately displayed on the arena’s big screen, there was no available remedy.
The officiating mistake was clarified in the league’s official Last Two Minutes report, which is automatically issued the next day for all games that are at or within three points during last two minutes of a fourth quarter (and overtime period, where applicable).
The report also identified a missed call on a Jalen Green drive with 1:18 left, which should have put Green at the free-throw line with a chance to bring Houston within three points. As it turned out, the no call led to Usman Garuba going to the line, and he missed both.
However, Houston caught a break in the game’s final minute when Eric Gordon was not whistled for what the NBA believes was a traveling violation with 43 seconds remaining. His ensuing drive led to a Garuba layup, which brought the Rockets within three points.
That gave Houston a chance to tie the game… until the final out-of-bounds call. Which, as it turns out, was incorrect.
Wow.@NBAOfficial declines to review this out-of-bounds call in the final play of Rockets-Heat. Heat keep the ball with 2 seconds left. Game over.
It’s possible league rules prevented the officials from reviewing this, but surely call accuracy > time spent reviewing, right? pic.twitter.com/OtFgLqbrZJ
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) December 16, 2022
To no surprise, @NBAOfficial concludes that @OfficialNBARefs had quite a few #oops moments late in Thursday’s Heat-Rockets game. pic.twitter.com/pydlzVPDho
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) December 16, 2022
