The Milwaukee Bucks have had a pretty tough time this season without the officials making glaring mistakes.
The Bucks’ most recent loss came Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets, in which the game swung on one drive that resulted in LaMelo Ball on the ground and the referees blowing the whistle. The Bucks led 114-113 with 7.3 seconds left when Ball got two free throws, which he made.
The foul was called on Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, but replay showed he did little more than graze Ball with his hand. Ball simply slipped as he began to drive, or as the Hornets broadcast put it, tripped over his own Cougars:
Unfortunately for the Bucks, they had no challenge to deny the foul. Bucks head coach Doc Rivers had both of his challenges remaining with three minutes remaining, but successfully used one to reverse a foul call on Andre Jackson Jr. with 2:46 left, then unsuccessfully used the others to challenge a call on Taurean Prince.
Antetokounmpo, who had a triple-double with 22 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists, was unsurprisingly sour with the officials.
The call was egregious enough that skipper Curtis Blair admitted his team screwed it up after the game in an interview with a pool reporter. If Rivers still had a challenge, he would have won it.
QUESTION: What was the final decision to confirm the call?
BLAIR: During live play we called an illegal leg to leg for contact. During postgame review when we looked at the play, there was no illegal contact on the play.
QUESTION: So if there was a challenge, which there wasn’t at that point because Milwaukee didn’t have one, that call would have been overturned?
Rivers agreed, through The Athletics:
“It clearly wasn’t foul,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “When you watch the video, the thing was blocked by one of our players. You can’t guess at the end of the game. Both teams played too hard.”
The loss was another brutal one for the Bucks, whose record sits at 4-9 this season and 21-28 under Doc Rivers. The team was missing star guard Damian Lillard, who remains in the concussion protocol, but was ultimately made up for by an 18-5 made free throw deficit.
