A final whistle difficult to digest for Doc Rivers

“This is my twelfth year in the NBA. Rule number 1: don't waste your money. Rule number 2: don't forget rule number 1. So I won't comment on that.”. Giannis Antetokounmpo knew how to keep a smile and avoid a fine by kicking into touch when asked about his feelings on the action and his “fault” which tilted the match in favor of the Hornets.

Doc Rivers was unable to do the same, putting the responsibility of the referees on the table during his appearance at a press conference. How could he have held back when the foul attributed to Giannis Antetokounmpo on LaMelo Ball seven seconds from the end was simply non-existent?

Above all, this is the second time in two games that his Bucks have had to deal with a particularly severe whistle, Giannis Antetokounmpo having already been sanctioned at the last second, against the Pistons, for a very questionable contact. That evening, Ron Holland II missed both shots and Milwaukee ended up winning in overtime. Yesterday, LaMelo Ball's Hornets took full advantage of the chance offered.

“I found that the referees made a mistake on the last action. This is the second time in a row now that an incorrect whistle has been blown on the last action”, he said. “LaMelo Ball went down. He just fell. No one was near him. He slipped on his own. We would have recovered the ball and the match was over. This is therefore the second time that we have been victims of an erroneous decision. We got lucky in Detroit, the kid missed two free throws. Tonight, LaMelo Ball succeeded.”

The mea culpa of the referees

After the match, refereeing representative Curtis Blair confirmed the referees' error. Milwaukee's only fault was therefore not having kept a “challenge” under their belt, which could have changed the outcome of the match.

“Live, during the action, we whistled for illegal leg-to-leg contact. In review of the action after the match, there was no illegal contact”confirmed Curtis Blair, much to the chagrin of the Bucks.

However, in the Milwaukee locker room, Pat Connaughton clarified that Doc Rivers did not stop at this sad fact of the game, reminding his players of the importance of being vigilant on all the details to ensure success. avoid this kind of mishap as much as possible, especially when facing a team like Charlotte.

“I think Doc did a great job reminding us that the last action is what everyone was going to see, but as far as we're concerned, what could we have done better at the moment? during the match? », he clarified. “How could we have contained them better on the offensive rebound, where they were killing us the whole game? How we can take better care of the ball, what we can improve on throughout the match, so that at the end, it is no longer a match that is played by one point but by three, and these whistles do not not kill us, but just push us to be better at executing so we can maintain our lead.”