Jaylen Brown directly demanded an investigation after the end of the match between the Celtics and the Pacers. It must be said that the last seconds were marked by two controversial refereeing decisions….
With 3.2 seconds left, and while the two teams were tied, the winger received a foul, for contact on the head of Buddy Hield. The latter even admitted contact to Joe Mazzulla, but the referees, after a “challenge” from the Pacers, reversed their decision. In the process, Kristaps Porzingis was called for a foul on Bennedict Mathurin's final shot. But if the referees had gone to see the video, it was to find out if the foul had taken place before the buzzer, the foul itself not being able to be analyzed in slow motion.
The NBA will not investigate this end of the game but, as with all close games, it has re-examined all actions in the last two minutes of the game.
The result ? She first confirms the referees' decision on Jaylen Brown's shot. The league admits light contact from Buddy Hield to the back of the Boston player's head, but too light to be a foul.
“As the regulations specify, the fact that contact occurs does not necessarily constitute a foul. Contact secondary to an effort by a player to defend on an opponent, reach for a loose ball or make normal defensive or offensive movements is not considered illegal.explains the report.
On the other hand, the NBA still admits that Bennedict Mathurin should not have benefited from three free throws on the following action, Kristaps Porzingis “was on top of the ball and legally challenged the shot, with accidental arm contact occurring at the same time as the block.”
