Crew chief admits missed foul, Knicks top ‘livid’ Pistons،
NEW YORK – After the Knicks escaped with a 113-111 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night – largely due to an obvious missed call with 8.5 seconds left when New York guard Donte DiVincenzo slammed into Detroit forward Ausar Thompson – Pistons coach Monty Williams delivered a tirade over what he considers a season of mistreatment by officials.
“Worst decision of the season,” Williams said minutes after the game. He arrived in the media room before reporters could get there and took no questions after releasing his statement on the final sequence of the game. “No calls, and that's enough. We did it the right way. We called the league. We sent clips. We're tired of hearing the same things over and over again.
We had a chance to win the game, and a guy dove into Ausur's legs and there was no call. It's an abomination. You can't miss that in an NBA game. Period. And I'm tired of talking about it. I'm tired of my guys asking, 'What more can we do, Coach? This situation is proof A of what we've been dealing with all along. throughout the season, and that’s enough.”
“You can’t dive into a guy’s legs in a big game like that and there’s no call,” he continued. “It's ridiculous, and we're sick of it. We just want a fair game. Period. And I don't have anything else to say. We want a fair game, and this wasn't fair.”
Referee James Williams, the team leader, stood right over the play, which occurred during a frenzied closing sequence, and admitted in a post-match pool report that it should have be classified as a fault.
“After post-game review, we determined that Thompson got the ball first and then was denied the opportunity to gain possession of the ball,” James Williams said. “Therefore, a loose ball foul should have been called against New York's Donte DiVincenzo.”
But it wasn't to be, and as a result, the Pistons (8-49) found themselves short of a heartbreaking call for a second straight game after feeling a trip should have been called on the game-winning bucket from Magic forward Paolo Banchero during Saturday's match. home loss to Orlando.
“I would say livid,” Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, who had a sensational performance with 32 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 blocks in 36 minutes, said after Monday's game. “That’s the word of the day: livid.”
Monday night's chaos began with the ball in the hands of Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson with 30 seconds remaining and New York trailing 111-110. After Brunson missed a 3-pointer off Cunningham's outstretched arm, the rebound was deflected by Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein to the corner, where Pistons guard Quentin Grimes grabbed it and threw it to Detroit forward Simone Fontecchio.
Josh Hart then knocked the ball away from Fontecchio on another play that appeared to be a foul – although James Williams, in the pool report, said it was a correct call – and Hartenstein recovered it and kicked him out to DiVincenzo. at the top of the key.
At this point, there was about 10 seconds left and DiVincenzo attempted to throw a pass to Brunson on the right wing, but instead threw it directly to Detroit's Thompson. Then, as Thompson attempted to move up the sideline, DiVincenzo collided with him, sending Thompson, DiVincenzo and the ball spilling across the field.
“I went for the ball,” DiVincenzo said later, when asked for his perspective on what happened. “I didn't watch the play. You turn the ball over, the ball is in front of you and you run after the ball. Like I said, I respect everyone's opinion. I can't talk about it until I didn't watch it at the cinema.”
Thompson, meanwhile, said he “definitely” expected an appeal regarding the play. But James Williams didn't whistle, allowing Brunson to scoop up the loose ball and throw a pass to Hart, who did so by fouling Pistons center Jalen Duren to give the Knicks the lead (35 -23) for good. .
“I was very confused when I was down and the play continued, I'm not going to lie,” Thompson said. “But I mean, that’s how it goes.”
What adds insult to injury for the Pistons is that this game was originally scheduled to be played in Detroit – only for it to be moved to New York due to an in-season tournament scheduling quirk which cost the Knicks a home game when they were eliminated. in the quarter-finals.
The Knicks, meanwhile, were on the other end of a refereeing error two weeks earlier when a referee admitted to missing a call in the final seconds of a loss to the Houston Rockets.
“I’ve been a part of some crazy things that have happened playing basketball,” Hart said. “So whether there are basketball gods or not, you know what I mean, crazy things happen over the course of an 82-game season.”
