NBA Admits Six Missed Calls Late In Jazz Loss To 76ers

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The NBA has ruled that game officials missed six calls over the final four minutes of the Utah Jazz overtime loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.

In the Last Two Minute report which reexamines how officials performed over the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime, the league found three calls that put the Jazz at a disadvantage and three calls that put the 76ers at a disadvantage

Jazz players were livid after the game, with both Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert feeling they’d have won the game in Philadelphia if not for the league’s officials.

“We won this game in my personal opinion,” Mitchell said. “I’m going to give them credit, they won whatever, cool, but this is consistent. It’s been a consistent thing.”

Mitchell was ejected late in the overtime period for arguing calls with the officials.

NBA Admits Missed Calls Against Jazz, 76ers

The NBA admitted that officials missed four calls in the final two minutes of regulation and two calls in overtime split evenly between the two teams.

During regulation, the league stated that Gobert should have been called for a foul against 76ers center Joel Embiid which would have put him at the free-throw line with 1:14 remaining and the Jazz leading 116-113.

Embiid missed his shot in the pain and the Jazz corralled the rebound.

A thread of plays where you can see the Jazz getting frustrated with the officials though the fourth quarter and overtime.

Conley clearly mad about the Thybulle reach here. Jordan Clarkson even signals for the foul. pic.twitter.com/YYbcAvVm31

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) March 4, 2021

On the ensuing possession, the league’s officials missed three calls in a matter of 20 seconds

With 59 seconds remaining in the game, the league signaled that Bojan Bogdanovic should have been penalized for traveling while shuffling his pivot foot while trapped by the 76ers near half-court.

When passing out of the trap, 76ers guard Ben Simmons clearly kicked the ball forcing it to go out of bounds, both calls the referees missed.

After recovering the ball in the backcourt, after two missed shots by Mitchell, the league determined Embiid fouled Mitchell on his third shot attempt of the possession which should have resulted in free-throws.

In overtime, game officials missed two more calls.

With the Jazz trailing 126-123, 76ers forward Tobias Harris traveled with 1:02 left on the game clock which should have resulted in the Jazz getting the ball.

Yeah like we’ve said, this L2M is going to be a nightmare. https://t.co/KNLNENf2At

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) March 4, 2021

However, after Harris missed his shot at the rim and Simmons missed his putback attempt, Gobert was whistled for a foul call against Embiid that sent the 76ers center to the free-throw line.

The sequence led to Mitchell’s first technical foul in overtime, pushing the 76ers lead from three to five with 57 seconds remaining in the game.

Shortly after the Harris travel, the league determined Gobert should have been called for a three-second violation for spending too much time in the paint without directly defending a 76ers player.

In total, the NBA determined that the officials missed six calls in the final four minutes of the game.

The national media came to the defense of Donovan Mitchell after last night's officiating debacle in the team's loss to the @sixers. #TakeNote https://t.co/zgGQpLkRnN

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 4, 2021

In regulation, the 76ers should have had an opportunity to trim the Jazz three-point lead to just two with over a minute remaining. Additionally, a Jazz turnover should have given the ball back to Philadelphia with just under a minute remaining, trailing by one, which would have negated the free-throws Mitchell would have earned an Embiid foul.

Conversely, the Jazz should have received the ball down three with just over a minute remaining in overtime on the Harris travel, but officials ended up granting two free-throws to the 76ers after the missed traveling violation.

In total, had the game been officiated correctly, the 76ers should have had a chance to take the lead in regulation with just under a minute left to play after being granted two Embiid free-throws.

In overtime, the Jazz should have had the ball trailing by three points in overtime with just over a minute left to play, and Mitchell still in the game.

How either of those scenarios would have played out is purely hypothetical, but it’s clear the game’s officials played a large role in altering the outcome of the game, even if their errors were evenly distributed.