NBA Admits To Subjecting Giannis Antetokounmpo To A Wrong Call During His Ron Holland Block

The Milwaukee Bucks matchup against the Detroit Pistons at the Fiserv Forum was a nail-biter. The home team ended up winning 127-120 in overtime, but they almost lost the game due to a poor foul call on Giannis Antetokounmpo. The NBA has released a ‘Last Two Minute Report’ to acknowledge that the refs made a mistake. Here’s what happened.

With the score tied at 111 and one second left on the clock, the Detroit Pistons called timeout. The game resumed after figuring out how they’d want to use the final second to score on the Bucks. Cade Cunningham threw a lob to rookie Ron Holland, who went for a reverse dunk with Giannis guarding him.

Holland caught the ball with both hands and was in a good position to end the game right there. However, Giannis managed to get just enough hand on it to disrupt the lob. That’s where the controversial decision was made. A foul was called on the Greek Freak which was immediately sent for review. For everyone else in the arena, it wasn’t a foul, but the refs decided otherwise.

It’s interesting how the refs spent several minutes analyzing the footage and still went ahead with their original decision. Holland was awarded two free throws. As fate would have it, the rookie ended up missing both the free throws, sending the game into overtime. It could’ve been the pressure of the moment or the distraction the home fans were creating behind the basket, but the Bucks got their lifeline.

They outscored the visitors 16-9 in overtime to secure their second win in a row. Giannis led the team with 59 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and three blocks while shooting 21-34 from the field and 16-17 from the charity stripe.

In the report, the NBA admitted that a wrong foul was called in the final second. The comment in the report stated, “Antetokounmpo (MIL) cleanly blocks Holland II (DET) during his shot attempt at the rim and any ensuing contact is incidental. The foul call is incorrect, but officials trigger a replay review to determine the timing of the foul call.”

The Bucks have been miserable this season so far. They have only won four of their total 12 games. If Holland was able to score either of the two free throws, it’d have rubbed salt in their wounds. Fortunately, he missed and the Bucks got another opportunity to close the game the right way.