New angle proves Tyrese Maxey was fouled before costly turnover

On Monday night, the Philadelphia 76ers failed to even their first-round series against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. However, the Knicks had some help from the officials.

When the Sixers tried to get to ball inbounds, a pass was made to Tyrese Maxey. Maxey ultimately turned the ball over, but several camera angles caught Jalen Brunson grabbing Maxey's jersey, which typically would have resulted in a foul. No foul was called.

On Twitter, a fan posted another angle of the play, which shows that the referees indeed got the play wrong and missed an obvious foul from Brunson.

Alternate angle shows Tyrese Maxey was fouled

From this angle, it's pretty obvious what took place, and that the referees were clearly wrong to not call a foul.

Brunson had a hold of the back of Maxey's jersey. This is what ultimately caused Maxey to lose control of the ball.

In the end, the Knicks got a break and took advantage of it, as Donte DiVincenzo hit a go-ahead 3-pointer that sealed the deal for New York and gave a 104-101 win to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

It's unfortunate that the officials missed this obvious call, and the angle shown in the tweet clearly shows that Maxey was fouled and that the Knicks caught a massive break late in the game. Even Stephen A. Smith, a massive fan of the Knicks, believes his team got away with a foul.

"I saw Tyrese Maxey get mugged if I'm being totally honest," said Smith on First Take as he held back a smile, happy that the Knicks caught a break. "He got fouled at least two or three times. There's no reason on earth why that call shouldn't have been made."

Even the most educated Knicks fan can tell that the officials botched this play and likely cost the Sixers a chance to tie the series. It opened the door for the Knicks to pull off a late surge and gain the complete upper hand with their Game 2 win.

Maxey finished the night with a double-double, scoring 35 points, dishing out eight assists, and grabbing eight rebounds. But even the combined efforts of himself and Joel Embiid were not enough to save the Sixers from some horrendous officiating down the stretch.

The series shifts to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 will take place on Thursday night, with tip-off happening at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

With two games at home, the Sixers will have a chance to battle their way back into the series and possibly even get it tied before it heads back to New York for Game 5. New York will look to carry their momentum from the first two games into Philadelphia and pull off a four-game sweep to send the Sixers home for the summer.