Midway through the third quarter of Game 1 between the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets at the Air Canada Centre, time paused — then came to a complete halt. The 24-second shot cocks malfunctioned and after a delay, the referees decided they would continue without them. You heard that right, the first playoff game in Toronto since 2008, is now sans shot clock.
Following the stop in play while officials tried to sort out what the problem was, the decision was made to continue the action without a shot clock above the backboard. Instead, the referees have relied on a stopwatch on the sideline (we are not kidding) and the public address announcer calling out “24” during a change of possession and saying, “10” with 10 seconds left before counting down from 5 when it reaches the final five seconds on the shot clock. When the 24-second shot block buzzer is supposed to stop, the PA announcer would simply say, “Horn.”
You couldn’t make this up.
The worst part about the malfunctioning shot clocks is that if there had been a play that was supposed to come under review because of an iffy shot clock violation, there’s no way the refs would have been able to make the call.
The Nets, following the delay, got 9 fourth-quarter points from Paul Pierce as they went on to win the opening game of the series 94-87. There were no other hiccups with the shot clocks, other than, you know, them not working.
Who wins this seris after Brooklyn took Game 1?
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