The Last 2 Minute report confirmed the referees were correct in calling Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner for an illegal screen, vindicating the New York Knicks who escaped with a 121-117 win in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference second-round playoff series.
Turner’s offensive foul in the final 13 seconds proved costly for the Pacers, who were only trailing 118-117 at that critical juncture.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson iced the game with three free throws.
“Replay review of the foul called on Turner pursuant to a coach’s challenge was deemed unsuccessful. Turner turns into Donte DiVincenzo’s path and does not give him time and distance to change direction prior to the illegal contact,” the Last 2 Minute report said.
Turner ripped the officiating after their loss.
“We’re all looking forward to that coming out,” Turner said of the Last 2 Minute Report. “In my experience in this league, I think it’s the best when the players decide the outcome of the game. I think it’s unfortunate it happened. We reviewed it and they still called it illegal screen, but it’s the playoffs, man. I feel like [Donte] DiVincenzo did a good job of selling it.”
Kickball Violation
But Turner was correct on the other controversial late-game call — a kickball violation on his Pacers teammate Aaron Nesmith which preceded before DiVincenzo’s go-ahead 3-pointer.
“That was not a kick ball,” Turner said. “You can clearly see on the replay.”
The Last 2 Minute Report agreed with Turner.
“Nesmith makes contact to the ball with his hand, not his foot,” the Last 2 Minute report said.
However, it added there is no replay trigger to review a kicked ball call.
Crew chief Zach Zarba acknowledged their mistake after the game in the pool report.
“Postgame review did show that it hit the defender’s hand, which would be legal,” Zarba told pool reporter Fred Katz of The Athletic.
Two Missed Calls Favored Pacers
There were a total of four missed calls inside the last two minutes of the tightly contested Game 1.
Two of them went Turner and the Pacers’ way.
The referees missed a defensive three seconds violation on Turner with 1:19 left. They also did not see the separate Turner illegal screen on DiVincenzo in the backcourt with about 10 seconds remaining.
Mitchell Robinson Out for Game 2
Turner, who scored 23 points but only pulled down two rebounds, will have one less headache in Game 2.
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson has been ruled out for Tuesday’s Game 2 due to a left ankle injury management.
Robinson played only 12 minutes off the bench in Game 1, scoring on an alley-oop dunk — the lone field goal made by the Knicks’ second unit.
Without Robinson, Thibodeau is left with no choice but to use the smaller Precious Achiuwa extensively as Isaiah Hartenstein’s backup.
The 6-foot-8 Achiuwa only saw action for four minutes in Game 1, scoring a free throw and pulling down one rebound. He also barely saw playing time in their first-round win against the Philadelphia 76ers, appearing in only two games.
But Achiuwa played solid in the regular season especially during Robinson’s lengthy absence while recovering from his ankle surgery. The 6-foot-8 Achiuwa averaged 8.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 26.1 minutes across 40 games without Robinson since the Knicks acquired him as part of the OG Anunoby trade.
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