Officiating has been a topic of conversation during the entire second-round series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.
At the start of the series, there was discussion about Donovan Mitchell not getting to the foul line enough. In the second half of the series, the discussion turned to Pistons’ head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, bemoaning the free-throw disparity between the two teams.
That trend continued after Cleveland’s Game 5 victory.
Bickerstaff believed that his team was on the wrong
end of a few plays down the stretch, including a possible loose-ball foul on Jarrett Allen in the closing seconds of regulation.
“[Allen] fouled Ausar [Thompson],” Bickerstaff said postgame. “It’s clear. He trips him when he’s going for a loose ball. End of game situation, that’s tough.”
If it had been called a foul, the Pistons would’ve been awarded two free throws in the final second to break what was a tie game.
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Tony Brothers, the crew chief from Game 5, defended his call afterward in the Pool Report from Game 5, with Coty Davis of Detroit News.
“During live play, both players were going for the ball and there was incidental contact with the legs with no player having possession of the ball,” Brothers said.
He then confirmed that a foul shouldn’t have been called when asked to clarify.
“No, there was no incidental contact on the play,” Brothers said. “The play will be reviewed by the league office tomorrow and will be posted in the L2M (Last Two Minute Report).”
Well, the Last Two Minute Report is out, and it backs up Brother’s statements. This wasn’t a foul.
“Allen (CLE) and Thompson (DET) legally step to the same spot while pursuing the loose ball [before either player has possession], and both lose their balance from the marginal contact.”
Additionally, the report states that there were no missed calls in the final two minutes of either regulation or overtime of Game 5.
One of the other controversial calls from the end of overtime was a foul called on Paul Reed against James Harden with 24 seconds left in overtime. Harden was drifting out of bounds, but a foul was called before he went out.
In the moment, the Pistons argued that he went out of bounds before the foul, but the Last Two Minute Report stated that Harden remained “in bounds with possession of the ball prior to the illegal contact. by Reed.” As a result, Harden was awarded two free throws.
In the end, the league confirmed that everything was called correctly on the court at the end of Game 5.
The Cavs will have a chance to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals on Friday evening.
