The Indiana Pacers, touting a paltry 14-22 record and firmly sitting at 13th place in the Eastern Conference, have no excuses to justify their erratic play this season. While the raw numbers tell an entirely different story, what matters most is making them count. So far, the team has chronically limped their way to the finish line in games, sporting the league’s worst record in clutch contests.
Indiana’s final game of the 2021 calendar year against the Chicago Bulls was another entry into the Pacers’ long list of ever-so-close losses in their current campaign. Capped off by a painful DeMar DeRozan step back three-pointer at the buzzer to seal the win for the visitors, the Blue and Gold could only muster some bristly sighs.
Amazing shot by DeRozan, of course, but the game, in hindsight, should not have even gotten to that point. The Pacers failed to catch some warranted breaks, and the NBA, as usual, whispered in hindsight about missed calls that could’ve swung the fortunes to Indy’s side.
Which are totally useful, yeah. Of course they are.
The Indiana Pacers continue to get the short end of the stick with late-game officiating
In the NBA’s Last Two Minute (L2M) Report, the officials admitted a grand total of four missed calls on the Pacers’ side in the waning moments of the fourth quarter which were rather obvious to the naked eye.
The #NBA said it missed four no-calls — three fouls and one travel — against the Bulls that should’ve resulted in six free throws for the #Pacers and one less basket for Chicago.
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) January 1, 2022
Doesn’t change anything for Indiana, as Caris LeVert pointed out. https://t.co/q1wHcOUFjR
As Caris LeVert pointed afterwards, the L2M reports do not really mean anything. Safe to say, they are nothing more than an elaborate paper of fangless details that remain unimpactful, save for those who douse in the sentimentality of defeat which, in the grand scheme of things, have an approximate total of zero, at least from a competitive perspective (and not a tanking one).
Instead, the culmination was a semi-Hail Mary from the normally three-point-averse DeRozan which swished through the bucket and rightfully made the headlines.
Forward Oshae Brissett, who played heavy minutes against the Bulls, couldn’t help but chime in on the Pacers falling victims to game-costing bad officiating.
— Oshae Brissett (@Obrissy) January 1, 2022
No game is officiated perfectly, but that the Indiana Pacers are common customers this season of costly refereeing mistakes should certainly make you wonder if the L2M reports even have a semblance of purpose, save to save face on the officials’ part.
And to add insult to injury.
(Luckily, I will not get fined for this.)