‘An abomination’: Officials admit to blown call as lowly Pistons lose again | NBA

Josh Hart scored the go-ahead layup with 2.8 seconds remaining and the host New York Knicks pulled out a controversial 113-111 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night. Hart’s winning score was set up by a blatant missed call with 8.5 seconds left and Detroit up 111-110.

New York’s Donte DiVincenzo dove for the ball near half court and crashed into the legs of Ausar Thompson, who had been trying to get control of the ball. No foul was called, and the ball ended up in the hands of the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, who passed to Hart for the decisive basket.

“The absolute worst call of the season,” Detroit coach Monty Williams said after the game.

The officials admitted after the game that there had been an error.

“Upon postgame review, we determined that Thompson gets to the ball first, and then was deprived of the opportunity to gain possession of the ball,” crew chief James Williams said. “Therefore, a loose-ball foul should have been whistled on New York’s Donte DiVincenzo.”

By then, Williams had ripped the officials in remarks that lasted just over a minute.

“We’re sick of hearing the same stuff over and over again,” Williams said. “We had a chance to win the game and a guy dove into Ausur’s legs and there was a no-call. That’s an abomination. You cannot miss that in an NBA game. Period.”

The result came in a season that not much has gone right for the Pistons. They have now lost six games in a row and their 8-49 record is the worst in the NBA.

“You cannot dive into a guy’s legs in a big-time game like that and there be a no-call. It’s ridiculous and we’re tired of it,” said Williams. “We just want a fair game called. Period. And I’ve got nothing else to say. We want a fair game and that was not fair. I’m done.”