NBA report: Refs missed fouls on 76ers' Tyrese Maxey before ball was stripped
With the Philadelphia 76ers angrily stating their unhappiness with the officiating after Monday’s 104-101 loss to the Knicks, the NBA’s Last 2 Minute report backed up some of their claims — announcing that Tyrese Maxey was fouled twice before Josh Hart stole the ball from him to set up the go-ahead basket in the final 30 seconds.
The review said that the officials made the correct no call as Maxey shoved Hart to create space on the inbounds pass, writing, “Maxey brings his hands toward Hart and marginal contact occurs as Maxey releases away from Hart during the inbound.” But the league said that with 27 seconds, “[Jalen] Brunson pulls Maxey's jersey away from his body, which affects Maxey's ability to secure the pass,” and, “Hart steps forward into Maxey's space and initiates lower body contact that causes Maxey to lose his balance and fall to the floor.”
“That’s just unacceptable, to put us in that situation,” Joel Embiid said afterward. “That’s [expletive] unacceptable to lose a game like this, especially in the playoffs.”
According to reports the 76ers planned to file a grievance about the call as well as not being granted a timeout when coach Nick Nurse tried to signal one in two separate instances. Both were noted in the Last 2 Minute report, although not backing Nurse’s assertion. “The timeout request is simultaneous to Hart making contact with the ball and [Philadelphia] not having possession,” according to the report.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
