NEW YORK — The NBA announced Wednesday that officials missed a foul in the final seconds of Utah’s overtime victory over Oklahoma City the previous night.
“On the final play of last night’s Oklahoma City-Utah game, the officials missed a foul committed by the Jazz’s C.J. Miles on the Thunder’s Kevin Durant during a 3-point shot attempt,” NBA president of league and basketball operations Joel Litvin said in a statement.
Deron Williams’ jumper with 1.1 seconds left in the overtime gave the Jazz a 140-139 lead and Miles clinched the win with a block on Durant’s shot at the buzzer. Durant believed he was fouled. Durant and several teammates stayed on the court pleading for a call that never came before the officials were escorted to the tunnel by security.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan could not recall a specific instance when the league acknowledged an officiating mistake after the fact, but he’s sure it’s happened before.
“That’s part of basketball,” Sloan said. “I don’t think you can spend all your time worrying about that. Once it’s over, you might be upset a little bit at the moment, but life goes on. You can’t do anything about it.”
Bosh out for final stretch.
Toronto all-star forward Chris Bosh is expected to need weeks to recover after surgery to repair a facial fracture suffered when he was struck by Antawn Jamison’s elbow.
Bosh had a displaced nasal fracture repaired in an operation performed by Dr. Frank Papay at the Cleveland Clinic. He was to remain there overnight, and is scheduled to return to Canada today.
The Raptors had a one-game lead over Chicago for the final Eastern Conference playoff berth with five games left, including Wednesday night’s game against Boston, and aren’t likely to get Bosh back before the end of the regular season.
The Associated Press
