The Indiana Pacers continued what has been an absolutely breathtaking start to the second round of the NBA playoffs with an improbable 120-119 Game 2 win over the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, giving them a 2-0 lead as the series shifts to Indiana. The Pacers trailed by seven points with 48 seconds left in the fourth quarter and were still able to pull out the victory, capped by Tyrese Haliburton’s final game-winning 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Obviously a comeback like that doesn’t happen without the leading team making a few mistakes, and the Cavs certainly played their part.
But, according to the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report, a couple of those mistakes were incorrectly officiated. Two lane violations — both in the final minute — should have both been called, and each would have wiped away a Pacers basket.
The first crucial non-call came when Pacers forward Pascal Siakam missed his second free-throw attempt with 48 seconds remaining. Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith crashed the glass from outside the 3-point line, gathering the miss for a rousing put-back dunk to cut the Cleveland lead to five points.
According to the league’s report, however, “multiple players enter the lane and cross the three-point line before the ball is released for the free throw,” and therefore a double lane violation should have been called, which would have resulted in a jump ball at midcourt and no basket for Nesmith.
The second missed call turned out to be incredibly important, as it led to Haliburton’s game-winner. At the free-throw line with 12 seconds left in the game, Haliburton collected the rebound off of his own missed free throw, then dribbled out beyond the arc before breaking the Cavaliers’ hearts.
According to the report, this also should have been called a double lane violation, as “multiple players enter the lane and cross the three-point line before the ball is released for the free throw, and the shooter steps over the plane of the free throw line before the ball touches the rim.”
So, in addition to players illegally crashing from behind the arc, Haliburton also stepped over the line before the ball touched the rim. The result, again, should have been a jump ball at midcourt.
This report is likely going to infuriate Cavs fans, and rightfully so. Things certainly wouldn’t have played out the way that they did had the correct calls been made. That being said, lane violations occur on virtually every NBA free throw and are rarely called — particularly during crunch time of a heated playoff game. And even if the jump balls would have been awarded, there’s a chance the Pacers would have won them and wound up scoring anyway.
We’ll never know, but you hate to see such an epic postseason clash end in controversial fashion.
