Wild Knicks–Pistons ending includes two referee calls you've definitely never seen before

I wish this series could last forever. But it can’t. So my second wish is for it to go seven games, with the Pistons eventually winning.

Wouldn’t that be so great? These games have been super fun. At least for me as a Pistons fan. I’m pretty sure my feelings represent the feelings of the entire world.

It would be for the greater good if we got as much Knicks vs. Pistons as possible. Not just because the series is fun and competitive but because this round is probably it for both of these teams. It’s difficult to imagine an Eastern Conference Finals that doesn’t have both the Celtics and Cavaliers. One round is probably all either team gets.

But weirder stuff has happened.

Anyway, if we want to watch these teams playing meaningful, competitive basketball for as long as possible, we need this series extended, and if refs start doing weird stuff, who knows how the games can break going forward. Crazy times we live in.

What exactly did the refs do to the Knicks and Pistons in Game ?

It’s not conspiratorial. It’s just stupid. I’m an idiot, not a conspiracy theorist.

Following the game, Chris Herring wrote a piece on ESPN.com talking about the specific events and players’ reactions to them. Both occurred late in the game.

First was what looked like an over-and-back violation to people with Pistons ties co-occurring with an event that looked like Jalen Brunson picking up the ball heading into the backcourt on an inbound to people with Knicks ties. It could go either way.

The refs granted the decision in the Knicks’ favor explaining: “Brunson and the trajectory of the pass were headed toward the backcourt. Brunson's momentum was taking him there when he touches the ball.”

That’s normal weird. The weird weird thing happened soon afterward.

With half a second left on the clock, Jalen Brunson was at the free throw line shooting his second free throw while ahead two. His coach instructed him to miss so as to force the Pistons to make a last second heave off a rebound, if anything.

Herring explained what happened next:

“Brunson bricked the shot on purpose, but the clock started, and the buzzer sounded before anyone from either team touched the ball. After reviewing it all, officials awarded the ball to the Pistons, saying they had imminent possession, and gave them the ball on the sideline with the half-second left and a chance to win the game, even though Detroit possessed no timeouts at that stage.”

Detroit couldn’t execute the last play, and the Knicks ended up victorious all the same, but yeah. There were two strange calls that, I guess, kind of evened out? I recommend reading Herring’s piece to see player reactions. Josh Hart called it “home cooking.” Because that’s how that works.

Anyway, yeah. Referees being the star of a game is never good. Hopefully the rest of the series can be based on decisions made by the players rather than ones by the officials.