The New York Knicks came away with a huge win on the road to defeat the Detroit Pistons in Game 3, but it didn’t come without a bit of controversy towards the end of the game.
Officials rule that Knicks’ Jalen Brunson did not commit a backcourt violation on a late inbounds play
With less than 10 seconds remaining and the Knicks up by three, New York inbounded the ball from the sideline to try to ice the game. Mikal Bridges threw the inbounds to Jalen Brunson near the half-court line, where his momentum carried him over the line and into the backcourt, and it looked as though he may have committed a backcourt violation that was not called by the officials.
After Ausar Thompson intentionally fouled Brunson with 3.5 seconds left, the Pistons’ bench was incensed with the fact that Brunson was not handed a violation. Brunson would knock down one of two free throws, and the Knicks would ultimately hang on to win 118-116, and Detroit wasn’t able to tie or win the game as a result of the no-call on Brunson.
Despite initially seeming like the no-call was an egregious mistake by the officials, it turns out that Brunson did not commit a violation. Following the conclusion of the game, crew chief Zack Zarba defended the no-call and explained why it was the correct call because of a rule in the official rulebook.
“Rule 4, Section 6G,” Zarba said to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “The frontcourt/backcourt status is not obtained until a player with the ball has established a positive position in either half in this instance, during the throw in the last two minutes of the fourth period and the last two minutes in any overtime period. Obviously, that is where we were at that point.”
Game 3 came with a few controversial moments
Therefore, Brunson technically committed a legal play, and the Knicks were not “gifted” a win by the referees. That play was not the only controversy sparked by the officials, as Detroit was essentially granted an opportunity to tie or win the game with 0.5 seconds left after a clock malfunction rewarded them with an extra possession and a timeout despite not having any timeouts left.
Luckily for New York, Detroit turned the ball over on the inbounds pass, which essentially sealed the game for the Knicks. Game 3 was a hard-fought battle that brought all the energy that was advertised. The Knicks will look to repeat that in Game 4 and potentially take a commanding 3-1 series lead on Sunday.