Watching Sunday’s Game 4 battle between the Detroit Pistons and the New York Knicks, the NBA legend Charles Barkley agreed with the idea that Tim Hardaway Jr. was fouled by Josh Hart on the final shot attempt of the fourth quarter.
Since it was not deemed a foul on the court at the time, the Knicks were able to celebrate their third win of the series, taking a notable lead over the Pistons before the series returns to New York on Tuesday.
Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff spoke on the play, making it clear that he was under the belief Hardaway was fouled on the play.
Pistons fans were FURIOUS about this no-call involving some contact with Josh Hart on Tim Hardaway Jr.’s potential game-winner 👀
Good no-call or missed foul? 🤔pic.twitter.com/o8Y8u1RrwH
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 27, 2025
“You go back to look at the film, the guy leaves his feet, and there’s contact on Tim Hardaway’s jump shot,” Bickerstaff told reporters. “I don’t know any other way around it. There is contact on his jump shot. The guy leaves his feet, he’s at Timmy’s mercy, and I repeat: there is contact on his jump shot.
The Pistons would soon find out that the referees got it wrong in an official pool report from NBA Official Crew Chief David Guthrie.
“During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play. After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called,” Guthrie said after the game.
The statement was read on ‘NBA on TNT,’ and Barkley couldn’t help but laugh off the pool report and rip into the NBA for the handling of the situation.
The Fellas react to the Knicks vs Pistons Game 4 ending and the league’s L2M report 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Xo2gDRdkn1
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 27, 2025
“The NBA, as much as I love them, and it’s giving me a great laugh, that is the stupidest thing ever! Like, yeah! How does that actually help the Pistons coming out later? All you’re doing is throwing referees under the bus,” he said. “We know it was a foul—they missed a call—but to act like we want to be transparent, that doesn’t help the Pistons.”
Three shots would’ve been enough for Hardaway to put the game away, or at least tie it up. Instead, the Pistons were left with a 94-93 loss and were told that they were wronged. The moment becomes potentially series-defining as comebacks from a 1-3 deficit are quite rare in the NBA.
