You can usually predict with some certainty what play(s) from the previous night’s NBA game will end up making its way into the Last Two Minutes Report. At the end of Wednesday night’s Celtics-Sixers game that saw Boston punch its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals, there were two sequences that caused some eyebrows to get raised.
One day later and sure enough of these both moments appeared in the L2M Report as plays that hurt the Sixers. First, the league determined that Joel Embiid was fouled by Aron Baynes on the Sixers’ possession towards the end of the game. The league said there was an incorrect no call, which led to Terry Rozier forcing a Sixers turnover to get Boston possession.
Boston forces the Joel Embiid turnover 😳pic.twitter.com/LJWDkqotsU
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) May 10, 2018
The league did mention that an additional missed call on this possession occurred, as Embiid committed a foul on Rozier after the missed call on Baynes. The next few seconds featured Rozier hitting two free throws, J.J. Redick knocking down a three, and Marcus Smart going 1-for-2 from the stripe to put Boston up by two.
The game’s final possession involved Ben Simmons attempting a full-court pass that was picked off by Smart. But after Smart intercepted the hail mary by Simmons, the referees let the clock hit zero. According to the league, there was a missed travel which should have given Philadelphia the ball in the frontcourt with 1.5 seconds left.
Jeez. Smart tried to miss the free throw, hits it, Ben Simmons throws the Hail Mary, game over. https://t.co/FakC5l2txy
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) May 10, 2018
Officials are human, and as such, they’re going to make mistakes, which is why the L2M Report exists. Still, this is the kind of thing that is sure to make the Sixers furious.
