After battling back from a 16-point deficit against the Houston Rockets, the New York Knicks looked like they had victory in their sights that is until a controversial foul was called in the dying seconds that gave the Rockets a stunning victory and ended a game that looked like it was heading to overtime.
As the Rockets’ guard Aaron Holiday was in the process of shooting a foul was called on Knicks’ guard Jalen Brunson which would result in free throws and the Rockets coming away with a 105-103 victory on Monday night.
Now, an NBA official is admitting an error in calling that costly foul that prevented the game from going to overtime.
“In live action, it was felt that the lower body contact was illegal contact. After seeing it during the postgame review, the offensive player was able to return to a normal playing position on the floor. The contact that occurred after the release of the ball therefore is incidental and marginal to the shot attempt and should not have been called,” NBA referee Ed Malloy said, via NBA.com.
The admission does nothing to change the outcome, or that fact that a bad call directly impacted the outcome of a game, and the Knicks are rightfully upset following a terrible officiating error.