NEW ORLEANS — Greater than a minute of additional sport time was added to the clock within the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 123-120 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday, an NBA spokesperson confirmed to ESPN.
“Now we have confirmed that the sport clock was inaccurately set within the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers-Memphis Grizzlies sport final night time at FedEx Discussion board,” league spokesperson Tim Frank mentioned in an announcement Saturday. “After a shot clock violation, the clock was set at 2:20 when it ought to have been at 1:14. The error was not seen in actual time by the groups, the referees, the sport clock operator or the stats crew. Whereas unlucky, the trouble was not recognized in time to resolve the state of affairs in-game.”
The Grizzlies shot two consecutive air balls to finish their possession with 1:14 remaining within the third quarter however the shot clock was reset mistakenly after the second try.
Whereas Memphis guard Timmy Allen corralled the ball and hoisted up a 3rd shot that additionally resulted in an air ball, referee Scott Wall whistled the play useless and signaled to the scorer’s desk of the shot clock violation, awarding possession to the Lakers on the sideline. Allen’s shot, because it got here after the shot clock ought to have already expired, didn’t depend. When the Lakers inbounded the ball, the shot clock was reset to 24 however the sport clock was modified from 1:14 to 2:20.
Within the 1:06 of additional time, the Lakers and Grizzlies had been tied 2-2, with Anthony Davis making a soar shot for L.A. and Jordan Goodwin making a soar shot for Memphis. The Lakers held on to beat the undermanned Grizzlies by three, with LeBron James scoring six straight factors within the remaining minute to offer L.A. a five-point cushion with 5.2 seconds remaining after that they had trailed by one.
Memphis got here into the night time with 13 gamers on the injured listing and relied on two-way gamers and 10-day contracts to fill out the energetic roster. Whereas the additional minute of sport time did not have any noticeable impact on the competitors, it did add to the taking part in time whole for L.A.’s two stars in James (41 minutes) and Davis (43 minutes).
“Everybody is aware of what time it’s,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham mentioned when requested concerning the heavy minutes. “It is that point of the yr, man. No matter we’d like and nevertheless lengthy we have to push guys, it is simply acquired to occur. They usually all perceive that.”
The 39-year-old James shrugged off any concern concerning the workload affecting him for L.A.’s regular-season finale towards the New Orleans Pelicans.
“I will be prepared for Sunday,” James mentioned.
The NBA additionally launched its Final Two Minute Report for the Lakers-Grizzlies sport on Saturday. There have been three incorrect calls recognized and so they all labored within the Lakers’ favor.
With 1:42 remaining and the Lakers up 117-116, the league mentioned that James ought to have been known as for a touring violation for switching his pivot foot after selecting up his dribble within the heart of the court docket above the 3-point line. That possession ended with a missed soar shot from Davis with 1:33 left.
With 47.7 seconds left and the Lakers down 118-117, the NBA deemed that James switched his pivot foot once more after faking a go to Rui Hachimura earlier than driving to the ring for a go-ahead rating with 44.3 seconds left. And with 12.2 seconds remaining, the league’s report discovered that Hachimura ought to have been known as for a taking pictures foul on the Grizzlies’ GG Jackson for initiating contact together with his leg when Jackson was trying a shot close to the basket.
The report mentioned that the technical foul that Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins was assessed for arguing the non-call on Jackson with 5.2 seconds left after calling timeout was right due to “unsportsmanlike” conduct.
