Detroit Pistons
Monty Williams is clearly over bad NBA officiating … the Pistons head coach put the refs on blast for the “worst no-call” in the final seconds of their game against the Knicks, which led to their 49th loss of the season.
“The absolute worst call of the season, no call,” Williams said before storming out of the post-game press conference at Madison Square Garden on Monday, saying, “Enough’s enough!”
Williams is referring to a sequence late in the 4th quarter that likely cost the Pistons a win.
With just under 10 seconds remaining in the game, and with Detroit up 1 point, NYK guard Donte DiVincenzo threw an errant pass that was stolen by DET forward Ausar Thompson who started down the court towards Detroit’s basket. DD attempted to steal the ball back, and in doing so, he crashed into Ausar, who lost the ball.
It was seemingly a blatant foul … but no whistle came. Jalen Brunson picked up the ball and fired it to Josh Hart, who was able to make a contested shot at the basket. And one. Instead of the Pistons possessing the ball with 8 seconds left, up 1 and headed to the free throw line, they were down 3 with only 2.8 seconds left.
Knicks win. Monty big mad.
“We had a chance to win the game, and the guy dove into Ausar’s legs, and there was a no-call,” Williams said. “That’s an abomination. You cannot miss that in an NBA game. Period!
“That situation is Exhibit A in what we’ve been dealing with all season long and enough is enough!”
The referees even admitted they blew it (or should we say didn’t) … crew chief James Wiliams told a pool reporter that a foul should have been called on DiVincenzo.
For his part, Donte says he was going for the basketball.
“I went for the ball,” DiVincenzo said after the game, “I didn’t look at the play … I respect everybody’s opinion.”
Ironically, the Knicks dealt with a similar scenario not too long ago …. but they were on the other side. Officials called Brunson for a bad foul which resulted in the Knicks losing to the Rockets earlier this month.
The officials also admitted that was a mistake. Unfortunately, despite owning up to the screw-ups, it’s still a loss in the standings, for a guy who is fighting for his job.
