For the second time this week, the NBA admitted an error on a game-winning buzzer beater in its Last Two Minutes report.
The latest instance announced by the league took place at the end of Friday evening’s game between the Trail Blazers and the Suns, when Portland forward Jerami Grant sank a fadeaway jumper as time expired to give his Blazers a 108–106 victory. However, the NBA retroactively ruled that Grant should’ve been called for traveling as a review showed that Grant “gathers the ball with one hand and then takes three steps before releasing the shot attempt.”
Unfortunately for the Suns, that wasn’t the call on the floor, as Grant was mobbed by his teammates in celebration after the shot went down.
The missed travel call wasn’t the only instance where the NBA deemed that the officiating crew erred in the final two minutes of Blazers–Suns. Just before the possession that resulted in Grant’s controversial game-winner, the referees incorrectly called Phoenix guard Mikal Bridges for traveling, which gave Portland the ball back with one second remaining.
The other glaring error that the report found was an incorrect no-call of defensive three seconds on Blazers rookie Keon Johnson. Had the call been made, the Suns would have received a free throw attempt and maintained possession of the ball late in the tied game.
The series of errors at the end of the Friday’s contest in Phoenix came just two days after the league announced that Heat guard Tyler Herro’s game-winning three-pointer against the Kings on Wednesday night should not have been allowed. The NBA wrote that the Miami sharpshooter traveled just before the final shot, which gave his team a 110–107 win.
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