The Sacramento Kings were unfairly stripped of an opportunity to finalize a remarkable comeback against the Boston Celtics on April 5, 2024, due to a preposterous non-call by the referees of the game.
Per Sports Illustrated:
“The NBA Officiating Last Two Minute Report admitted the referee’s mistakes, saying there was a foul on [Sviatoslav] Mykhailiuk and it was an incorrect no-call. This was a crucial missed call by the officiating crew, costing Sacramento the chance to cap off their comeback win.”
The Kings tweeted out video of the farcical non-call.
Sacramento Kings Ripped Off
Per Yahoo Sports:
“The Kings were on the receiving end of a brutal missed call at the end of a nail-biting 101-100 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday at TD Garden.
“With Sacramento trailing by one point with five seconds remaining in the game, Kings guard De’Aaron Fox failed to convert a potential game-winning jump shot that was rebounded by guard Keegan Murray, who missed the second-chance attempt before rookie Colby Jones appeared to be swatted in the face by Celtics guard/forward Svi Mykhailiuk on the put-back attempt.
“According to the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report released Saturday, Jones indeed was fouled on the play, so it was an incorrect non-call by the officials.”
The Kings Are Fighting for a Position in the Western Conference Playoffs, and Hope to Avoid the Play-In Tournament
Despite the loss to the Celtics, the Kings clinched a playoff spot. The question now is whether they will have to participate in the play-in tournament.
The Kings are currently in a battle for the sixth seed in the Western Conference with the Los Angele Lakers, the New Orleans Pelicans, and the Phoenix Suns.
Were it not for the referee’s blown call against the Celtic, the Kings could have been in a substantially better position than they are in now.
The Post-Hoc Acknowledgment of the Blown Call Is Little Solace for the Kings: Why Not Get it Right During the Game?
Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown was none-too-pleased about the blown call in the critical game against the Celtics.
“If called correctly, Jones would have received free-throw attempts with a chance to tie or win the game.
“In speaking to reporters after the game, Kings coach Mike Brown expressed his frustration with the non-call.
“‘Fox got a great look, Keegan had a good look on the follow-up and then Colby gets smacked right in the face with 1.7 [seconds] to go,’ Brown said. ‘And you’re yelling, “Foul, foul,” and they say nobody got hit — it was just physical, clean basketball. And that’s tough to swallow when you see a guy get smacked like that in the face. That’s tough.’
“‘I don’t know. Maybe we didn’t deserve to win. I’m not sure. We for sure wanted to win. You just got to call the game how it is. I don’t know how you miss that one.'”
Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, advances in technology will allow for blown calls like that which occurred in the Kings-Celtics game to be averted.
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