-
Tim Bontemps, ESPN
According to the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report from Game 5 of the instant classic first-round series between the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks, Tyrese Maxey‘s heroics never should’ve happened.
That’s because the league said the game’s refereeing crew missed a Maxey travel on his 3-pointer with 25.4 seconds to go, on which he was fouled by Knicks center Mitchell Robinson and made the free throw, beginning Philadelphia’s remarkable comeback from down 6 with 28.9 seconds remaining in regulation to eventually win 112-106 in overtime and keep the 76ers’ season alive.
There were three other calls that were deemed incorrect: there should have been 0.4 seconds left in regulation, and Knicks ball, after Nicolas Batum blocked Jalen Brunson‘s potential game-tying shot out of bounds (the clock instead ran out, sending the game to overtime); Brunson should’ve been called for an offensive foul in overtime on the play that ultimately became a flagrant foul on Joel Embiid for hitting Brunson in the head; and Josh Hart was not actually out of bounds with 41.5 seconds to go.
It is another way in which Philadelphia’s Game 5 miracle mirrors New York’s doing the same thing to the Sixers in Game 2, as there were multiple officiating errors in New York’s favor as part of that comeback in the Last Two Minute Report from that game.
The two teams have now both come back from at least five-point deficits inside the final 30 seconds of regulation to win a game in this series — something that had happened only three times in the past 25 years before these playoffs, and now has happened twice in the same building in the past 10 days.
Game 6 will take place Thursday night in Philadelphia, with Game 7 — if Philadelphia wins — being back in New York on Saturday night.