Jan
30
NBA Says Late-Game Call Was Incorrect
By caseyholdahl Posted in: Blazers, Mavericks
The Trail Blazers were able to finish a come-from-behind victory Tuesday night against the Mavericks at the Rose Garden thanks in large part to an offensive foul Ronnie Price was able to draw on OJ Mayo with the game tied 104-104 and just 1.5 seconds remaining. The call gave the Trail Blazers the ball and a chance to win the game,
which LaMarcus Aldridge did as time expired.
But according to the NBA's "Officially Speaking" blog,
that call was incorrect:
With 1.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Dallas Mavericks-Portland Trail Blazers game on January 29, officials called a charging foul on Dallas’ OJ Mayo. After review at the league office, the video replay confirmed the play should have been ruled a blocking foul as Portland’s Ronnie Price did not get his body directly in Mayo’s path prior to him starting his upward shooting motion. Mayo should have been granted two free throws.
It's possible the Trail Blazers would have had a look at a game-tying or game-winning shot if Mayo, an 85 percent free-throw shooter, had been awarded a trip to the line as the NBA says he should have, but that's something we'll never know.
There was a suspect clear path foul called on Wesley Matthews, even after replays seemed to show that Darren Collison tripped on his own feet, so maybe chalk this one up calls evening out in the long run. Of course, the Trail Blazers were on the other end of an
incorrect game-deciding call last year, so maybe we'll just call it even.