NBA acknowledges a foul that wasn't called at end of Game 4 between Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks
Referees missed Detroit's Tim Hardaway Jr. getting fouled by New York's Josh Hart on the final play of the Pistons' playoff matchup against the Knicks on Sunday, the NBA acknowledged shortly after the game ended.
It was a critical missed call: Detroit lost the game by a single point, 94-93. Hardaway's 3-point shot officially came with 0.3 seconds remaining. Had the foul been called, he would have gone to the foul line for three free throws that could have given Detroit the lead.
"During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play," crew chief David Guthrie told a pool reporter after the game. "After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called."
New York's win gave the Knicks a 3-1 lead in the series.
"Did I make contact with him? Yeah, I made contact with him," Hart said. "Was it legal? I don't know. We'll let the two-minute report say that."
The NBA puts out a review of all calls in the final two minutes of games decided by three points or fewer, with those reports released the day after the game. But in this case, with a pool report requested, the NBA had Guthrie speak to a reporter and explain what happened.