The NBA’s Last Two Minute Report has been unkind to the Sacramento Kings so far this season. On three separate occasions, a game-altering play in the waning moments of a loss was missed by the officiating crew and later acknowledged by the league.
Finally, Sacramento has had one go their way.
In Monday’s report, the league admitted another error by the officiating crew in the Kings’ 110-106 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday evening, this time in Sacramento’s favor.
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With 5.6 seconds remaining and the Kings up 108-106, Luka Doncic drove the lane against Cory Joseph and came up short on his attempted floater. A review of the film has Joseph fouling Doncic, which would have put him at the line with a chance to tie the game.
“Joseph (SAC) makes contact with Doncic's (DAL) right elbow during his upward motion and affects his driving shot attempt,” the official report reads.
Richaun Holmes grabbed the rebound off the Doncic missed and head coach Luke Walton instantly called a timeout for Sacramento. After advancing the ball into the frontcourt, Bogdan Bogdanovic found a wide-open Nemanja Bjelica under the basket with the inbounds pass for an open dunk to seal the win for the Kings.
There is no remedy for the Last Two Minute Report, just a confirmation of a correct call or an acknowledgment of a mistake and sometimes multiple errors. Since there was no call on the play, the Mavericks couldn’t review the potential for a foul in real-time.
NBA
At the time of the play, the Mavericks were on a 16-2 run and had erased a huge 24-point third-quarter deficit. If a foul would have been called by the officials, Doncic would have received two free throws. If he hit both, the Kings would have had one last possession to score the winning basket on the other end.
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The Kings were dealt a loss on a suspect call against the Lakers on Nov. 15. Harrison Barnes was called incorrectly for a foul against LeBron James in the final seconds, which the league later confirmed.
In addition, the officials also admitted a mistake in the Kings’ Nov. 26 loss to the Celtics, as well as an error against Sacramento in their overtime loss to the Spurs on Friday.