The NBA has officially confirmed that the referees failed to call a foul during a pivotal moment in the Detroit Pistons’ playoff game against the New York Knicks on Sunday.

Referee oversight saw Detroit’s Tim Hardaway Jr. fouled by Josh Hart in the dying seconds of the match, which ended in a tight 94-93 loss for the Pistons. Hardaway attempted a three-pointer that fell just 0.3 seconds before the buzzer. Had the foul been recognized, he would have been awarded three free throws that might have sealed a victory for Detroit.

David Guthrie, the crew chief, stated, “During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play. After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called.”

The Knicks’ triumph gives them a 3-1 series advantage.

Josh Hart remarked, “Did I make contact with him? Yeah, I made contact with him. Was it legal? I don’t know. We’ll let the two-minute report say that.”

The NBA regularly reviews calls from the final two minutes of closely contested games, issuing a report the following day. In this instance, a pool reporter facilitated Guthrie’s explanation of the missed call.

Postgame, J.B. Bickerstaff, the Pistons’ coach, expressed his frustration to the officiating team, unable to challenge the call since they had already used their challenge for the game, and no official foul was noted to contest.

Bickerstaff insisted, “There’s contact on Tim Hardaway’s jump shot. I don’t know any other way around it. The guy leaves his feet, he’s at Timmy’s mercy. I repeat, there’s contact on his jump shot.”

Cade Cunningham contributed 25 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds, marking his first playoff triple-double.

Additionally, the Pistons’ streak of nine consecutive home playoff losses matches an NBA record set by Philadelphia between 1968 and 1971.