NBA confirms that 76ers got screwed by multitude of calls, no-calls in Game 2 loss

The ending of Game 2 between the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks will live on his history Some might prefer the term infamy. Generally, it's pretty stupid to blame refs for a team's defeat. But, in front of tens of thousands of ardent New York fans on Monday night, the Knicks committed highway robbery. There were three accomplices in matching grey uniforms.

We've all seen the sequence at this point. With 27 seconds left, Jalen Brunson's shot is guided through the net by the hand of God. That trimmed the Sixers' lead to two. All Philadelphia needed to do was inbound and advance. Neither were accomplished.

On the surface, it's a sloppy pass from Kyle Lowry and a lazy catch from Tyrese Maxey, who stumbles to the ground and eventually turns it over. From there, the Knicks hoist up a 3, miss, get the offensive rebound, and bury their next attempt to seal the victory.

There are plenty of gripes with Philadelphia's execution here — how do the Sixers not get a body on Isaiah Hartenstein after all this talk about gang rebounding and curtailing New York's second-chance points? — but despite the Sixers' dedication to handing the game away, this should have been a Philly win. With even remotely competent officiating in the game's final minute, this series would have been tied 1-1.

Maxey is fouled by Brunson on the inbound pass. His jersey is held, which prevents a clean catch. Maxey is then knocked to the ground by Josh Hart — uncalled. Oh, and meanwhile, Nick Nurse made several attempts to call a timeout and was ignored by the officials.

Any resistance to such a narrative was put to bed Tuesday afternoon by the NBA's last two-minute report, which corroborated all of Philadelphia's gripes regarding the final 27 seconds.

The L2M Report shows that:

• Maxey was held by Brunson on the inbound pass, which should have been called a foul
• Maxey was fouled by Hart when he fell to the ground, and it should have been called
• Nurse should have been awarded a timeout before the inbounds pass even occurred

There was a contingent of Knicks fans contesting that Maxey pushed off of Hart before receiving the inbound pass, therefore rendering Philadelphia's gripes about what ensued moot. But no, that contact was deemed marginal, and the NBA does not believe a foul should have been called on Maxey.

So, in short, the Sixers were screwed. Officially. On the record.

76ers officially proven right about literally every single officiating complaint late in Game 2 loss to Knicks

It's bleak for the Sixers at this point. The win percentage for teams facing an 0-2 deficit in the NBA Playoffs is six percent. Philadelphia has never done it, and we know this team's track record under pressure. Joel Embiid is once again operating on half a knee, and there's no telling how Tyrese Maxey's body responds after dropping 35 points while under the weather.

The Sixers are the better team on paper. Embiid and Maxey have been the two best players in this series, Philadelphia has defended Jalen Brunson impressively well, and Nick Nurse has schemed up creative answers to Tom Thibodeau's tried and true techniques. And yet, it feels like none of that matters. The Knicks out-hustled the Sixers in Game 1 and were able to scrape by with a great "comeback victory" in Game 2.

Maybe the Sixers win two straight at home and the series is born anew in Game 5. It's certainly possible. But, if these Sixers have taught us anything over the last few years, it's that adversity generally means death. More than ever, the adversity has been manufactured by sources outside the Sixers' control — injuries and officiating — but all the same, it feels like Philadelphia is being led to the slaughterhouse at this point.