The NBA has confirmed two officiating errors during Game Six of the Eastern Conference finals between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat.
In Miami on Saturday night, the Celtics secured the win they needed to force a Game Seven at the buzzer when Derrick White tipped in a missed three-point attempt from teammate Marcus Smart to seal a 104-103 win. Nothing was deemed untoward during that sequence, but the previous play was particularly controversial.
At the opposite end of the court, Al Horford fouled the Heat 's Jimmy Butler was fouled by on a field goal attempt. In the immediate aftermath, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla used a coach's challenge to contest the call by taking a timeout.
That decision was ultimately deemed unsuccessful, and the foul did not get overturned. However, reviewing meant that the official in the replay centre could also assess other incidents.
They determined that Butler was behind the three-point line when fouled. That meant three free throws would follow rather than the initially indicated two, giving Miami a chance to take the lead rather than only tie.
Next, the official added 0.9 seconds onto the game clock after adjudging the foul happened with 3.0 seconds remaining rather than the 2.1 seconds left when the whistle initially went. Both of these decisions have been deemed correct by the league, as was a non-call on a potential double dribble from Butler before shooting.
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According to the NBA's last two minute report from the game, the only plays for which there is clear and conclusive video evidence that they were incorrect benefited the Heat.
The first of which was a lane violation from Caleb Martin. Martin was boxing out White, preventing him from being able to contest for a rebound after Jaylen Brown missed a free throw attempt. Instead, Butler rebounded the ball with just over one minute on the clock as the Heat regained possession.
The other incorrect call was a non-call on Gabe Vincent making contact with Jayson Tatum while the Celtics wing was driving towards the basket. The league says the impact affected the attempt.
Tatum missed the shot with 33.5 seconds on the clock but should have been shooting a pair of free throws that could have extended Boston's lead to three. He was a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line on the night.
Regardless, Boston did end up edging it to win a third consecutive game and set up a winner-takes-all meeting on Monday night. After recovering from a 3-0 series deficit, the Celtics become the fourth team to make it to a Game Seven.
All three other teams to do so lost the series decider, but none of those trio had home-court advantage. The Celtics do and can make NBA history by succeeding where 151 others before them have previously failed to.
