NBA admits Marcus Smart's late steal against Portland Trail Blazers should have been ruled clean

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2017/01/boston_celtics_news_nba_rules.html



Boston Celtics news: NBA admits Marcus Smart's late steal against Portland Trail Blazers should have been ruled clean




Boston Celtics' Marcus Smart (36) and Isaiah Thomas argue a call against them during overtime of Boston's 127-123 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in an NBA basketball game in Boston Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. The NBA ruled Smart should have gotten away with a steal earlier in the game. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)



Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com



on January 23, 2017 at 9:00 AM



BOSTON -- The NBA admitted one of its referees hurt the Boston Celtics with a bad call during the final seconds of regulation Saturday evening.

The last two-minute report published Sunday revealed Marcus Smart's late steal should have been ruled clean. During a game the Celtics later lost in overtime to the Portland Trail Blazers, 127-123, Smart was whistled for a foul with 10.8 seconds left in regulation while stripping the ball from Damian Lillard.

The call waved off Smart's ensuing layup, which would have put the Celtics ahead by one point. They likely would have needed just one stop for the win. Instead, after two Lillard free throws, they required a gutsy 3-pointer from Terry Rozier just to force overtime.

The last two-minute report never actually changes anything. It's more of a day-late apology, and the Celtics still had other chances to win the game. But Smart knew after the loss he had been the victim of a bad call.

"I definitely felt like I had it clean," Smart said. "I think it was clean and the indication of that is the whistle didn't blow until I was bringing the ball down in our own basket, so.







"But he called a foul, so it was a foul."

It was a foul. It just shouldn't have been. A short clip of the play follows below:

https://twitter.com/celticsnetwork/status/822979717003415553



bob
MY NOTE: We weren't doing a good job of getting stops, so it's hard to say it cost us the game, but it sure would have been nice to be up by 1 with 10.8 seconds left than down by 3.


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I hate this new NBA, where they come out and say the ref's made a mistake or ten.  What good does it do?  You notice it is always on plays that would have turned a game in the favor of the team the foul was called on?  Train these ref's better. I said it the other night, they have no idea what good defense really is, so they call fouls.

I want instant replay on every play where two players touch each other if one of them has the ball, or if the refs just THINK one of them got fouled.  I want games to last 24 hours.  I got nothin' better to do.  I can always fast forward through the down time while I watch the games on delay.  Won't cost me any time.  Let people who go to the games in person pack a sleeping bag.

we've gotten screwed for years

You notice how as many times as the NBA says the refs made a mistake, nothing is ever done about it?

There's no consequences for the refs if they call the game poorly. Therefore, there's a lack of incentive for them to do a better job. So I'm struggling to figure out the point of the NBA even bothering to go to this extent. If anything, it likely pisses people off more.


KJ