NBA admits refs made game-changing mistake in Pacers win over Celtics
By Jack Simone
The Indiana Pacers took down the Boston Celtics 133-131 on Monday night in one of the most impressive comebacks of the season. Not only that, but they managed to do it without their All-Star.
Tyrese Haliburton went down with a hamstring injury in the second quarter, and the Pacers were forced to complete the rest of the game without him, but they still managed to take down the best team in the league.
However, the game was riddled with controversy at the end, as there were a couple of close foul calls that affected the ending in the final moments of the contest.
On the Pacers’ final possession of the game, Bennedict Mathurin got the ball in the corner and threw up a three-point shot. It missed, but the refs called a foul on Kristaps Porzingis on the play.
Mathurin went to the line and nailed two free throws, which ended up winning the game for the Pacers. But the next day, it was revealed that the referees made a mistake.
According to the NBA’s last two-minute report, the call on Porzingis was incorrect and should not have been a foul, meaning the game should have gone to overtime.
The Celtics were obviously frustrated after the game with the calls, especially considering there were a couple of controversial calls in a row.
Prior to the foul call against Porzingis, Buddy Hield was called for a foul on Jaylen Brown on the other end of the court when Brown was trying to put the Celtics ahead.
However, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle challenged the call, and it was overturned even though Hield appeared to hit Brown in the back of the head.
In the last two-minute report, that call was reportedly correct, as they deemed the contact to Brown’s head as “marginal,” and the same was said for the contact Porzingis made on Mathurin, though that call stood at the time and was only deemed wrong after the fact in the report.
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Indiana went home with a victory, though Celtics fans will definitely be angry with the results of the game after finding out the impact the refs had on the outcome.