Detroit’s Tim Hardaway Jr. be like, “Yo, I got fouled on that final play!” And guess what? The NBA was like, “Yeah, you right, bro!” But here’s the kicker – they missed it anyway! Refs straight up missed Hardaway getting fouled while he was chucking up a 3-pointer in Detroit’s super close 94-93 loss to the Knicks in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Sunday. The NBA owned up to the oopsie right after the game, admitting that a foul should have been called on the Knicks’ Josh Hart. If they had called it, Hardaway would’ve gotten three free throws with like 0.3 seconds left. But nah, the game just ended like that, and Detroit was fuming, man.
Hardaway was all fired up, telling reporters, “Did you see that? It was so obvious.” The Knicks took a 3-1 lead in the series, hyping up Game 5 in New York on Tuesday. Crew chief David Guthrie was like, “During the game, we thought Hart was clean, but after reviewing the play, we saw he was all up in Hardaway’s business and should’ve been called for a foul.” Hart was just like, “Yeah, I touched him, but like, was it legal? Who knows, man. Let the report say what it says.”
The NBA always reviews calls in the final two minutes of games decided by three points or fewer, dropping those reports the day after. But this time, they had Guthrie spill the beans to a reporter right after the game. Detroit tried to argue, but no dice. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff was livid, stepping to the refs right after the final buzzer. But he couldn’t challenge the call ’cause they had already used it up, and even if he could, well, no call was made, so it was a lost cause.
Bickerstaff was adamant, saying, “There was definitely contact on that jump shot. The dude straight up flew into Timmy’s space. I’m telling you, there was contact.” With 11.1 seconds left and down by one, the Pistons had a chance. Cade Cunningham threw up a brick with 7.4 seconds to go, and then the ball found its way to Hardaway in the corner. He pump-faked, got Hart to bite, and then boom – contact on the shot.
After the game, Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns was all like, “What do you want me to say? What view are you talking about? We’re just happy we got the W and heading back to the Garden. You dig?” The play was wild, and even though Detroit was heated, the game was a wrap.
