NBA L2M: Warriors vs. Pistons

Was the game called accurately down the stretch?

The Golden State Warriors earned a much-needed victory over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday night, winning 107-104 to climb back above .500 and start their four-game road trip on a high note. For a while it looked like the Dubs would win in a blowout — they led by 18 about halfway through the fourth quarter. But a furious comeback from the Pistons, led by up-and-coming star Cade Cunningham, made it a very tight game down the stretch.

Golden State escaped with a victory, but the game got close enough that it qualified for the NBA’s Last 2 Minute Report. And there’s good news: upon further inspection, the league has determined that the game was called correctly in the final two minutes. After reviewing the tape, the NBA officials determined that all of the calls were correctly made, and all of the non-calls were correctly made (or not made, as the case may be).

That didn’t keep controversy from occurring. With 4.8 seconds remaining and a four-point lead, Warriors guard Dennis Schröder fouled Cunningham, sending him to the line for two. Cunningham made the first, before purposely missing the second, with hopes of setting the team up for a game-tying three. Cunningham caught his own miss and passed it out to the perimeter, but the refs called the play dead, saying his missed free throw hadn’t touched the rim, which is a violation. But after a review, the officiating crew determined that the ball had touched the rim, and awarded Detroit a sideline inbound.

The L2M listed this play as an inadvertent whistle stoppage, and explained it as such: “Replay review is triggered to determine if Cunningham’s (DET) free throw attempt came into contact with the rim. Upon review, Cunningham’s free throw attempt did hit the rim, which allows Cunningham to legally recover the rebound. Cunningham is in possession of the ball at the time of the whistle and possession is given to Detroit.”

Detroit likely would have complained about the inaccurate whistle, given that they looked to get a decent shot off following Cunningham’s rebound ... except they ran a sensational ATO play and the Warriors forgot how to play defense, leaving Malik Beasley with an even better look to tie the game, though he missed that one.

All’s well and fair that ends well and fair.