The Detroit Pistons may have been robbed of a chance to win a playoff game.
The 1-seed Pistons fell to the 4-seed Cleveland Cavaliers 117-113 in overtime of Game 5 on Wednesday, May 13, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, and the end of the game didn’t come without controversy.
With the game tied at 103 and the Cavs holding for the final shot of regulation, Pistons forward Ausar Thompson blocked a shot from Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell and lunged for the ball with about two seconds left. Thompson then tripped after his left foot and the right foot from Cavs center Jarrett Allen collided.
No foul was called. If it had been, Thompson would have been awarded two free throws – the Cavs were over the foul limit – and could have put the Pistons ahead.
(Thompson earlier in the fourth quarter made two free throws.)
Instead, the referees swallowed their whistles, and the game headed to overtime.
Crew chief referee Tony Brothers gave an explanation after the game for why no call was made.
“During live play, both players were going for the ball and there was incidental contact with the legs with no player having possession of the ball,” he said in the pool report. “The play will be reviewed by the league office tomorrow and it will be posted in the L2M [last two minutes report].”
For his part, Thompson said the referees “didn’t give a lot of explanations in general” about foul calls during the game, but also didn’t blame the no-call for the loss.
“Can’t blame the refs,” he said. “We can’t put ourselves in these positions.”
The Pistons gave up the final nine points of regulation and the first four points of overtime.
“He fouled Ausar. It’s clear,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He trips him when he’s going for a loose ball. End of game situation, that’s tough.”
The Pistons trail the best-of-seven second-round series, 3-2, and head to Cleveland for Game 6 on Friday night. The Pistons must win to keep their season alive. They’re 3-0 in elimination games this postseason. The Cavs are 6-0 at home in this year’s playoffs, including wins over the Pistons in Games 3-4.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Refs explain no-call on Ausar Thompson trip in Pistons’ Game 5 loss to Cavs
Reporting by Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
