The Thunder-Bucks game ended with quite a flourish on Friday night as Giannis Antetokounmpo hammered home what was initially ruled as the game-winning dunk on Russell Westbrook just before the final buzzer to give Milwaukee a 97-95 victory.
But replays pretty clearly showed that Giannis stepped out of bounds as he made his move to the basket, which prompted all sorts of outrage from an NBA world that has long been frustrated with the mechanisms surrounding the types of plays that can be officially reviewed.
So on Saturday, it was little surprise that the league officially ruled in their controversial Last Two Minutes Report that Giannis did indeed step out of bounds on that play.
The Last Two Minute Report is out from last night's game. As expected, rules Giannis stepped out of bounds with 3.2 seconds remaining. Also, however, says Westbrook committed a lane violation on Bledsoe's second missed free throw: https://t.co/nsfVVd4G9b
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) December 30, 2017
Of course, that’s cold comfort to the Thunder, who still have to take a L on this one and chalk it up to bad officiating as the report does nothing to change the outcome of the game. For two teams that both appear post-season bound, anything added to the loss column can potentially have wide-ranging implications in terms of playoff seeding.
It remains to be seen whether the loud chorus of detractors for the problematic practice will have their voices heard anytime soon. For now, it appears to be business as usual.
