The Milwaukee Bucks lost Charlotte Hornets 115-114 on Saturday afternoon. It was a close game in which two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetotkounmpo recorded his first triple-double of the season with 22 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists. He also had two blocks.
However, Greak Freek, known for his tendency to foul, only had one free throw the entire game.
It was this fact, combined with a flagrant foul in the closing seconds of the game, that caused head coach Doc Rivers to take the field during his postgame press conference.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was assessed a foul that never occurred
With a few seconds left in the game, the Hornets had possession of the ball and passed it to Lamelo Ball. After changing the defense, the experienced defender was defended by Giannis.
Ball went onto the track but fell over. It should have been a loss, but the referees whistled a foul on Giannis, who had no contact with Ball that could have caused him to fall:
That’s a foul in 2024 and the NBA wonders why the ratings are always so low
— GiannisMuse 💫🦌 (@GiannisMuse) November 16, 2024
The call, although incorrect, put the ball at the free throw line and the Hornets lost. He made both free throws, ultimately winning the game for Charloette and reducing Milwaukee to 4-9 on the season.
After the game, Rivers reacted harshly to the referees for their phantom foul.
Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers goes off on referees for fouling Giannis
As you may recall, the Bucks were in a similar situation in their previous game, a victory over the Detroit Pistons in which Giannis scored 59 points in an overtime thriller.
However, the match almost didn’t go to overtime.
Similarly, Giannis was whistled for a foul with one second left in regulation when he flawlessly blocked a lob attempt that would have given Detroit the lead. However, Detroit’s 19-year-old rookie Ronald Holland II missed both free throws, allowing Milwaukee to win in overtime.
They weren’t so lucky against the Hornets, and Rivers was clearly frustrated with the way the referees treated his star player in the last two games:
https://t.co/5dTls9nA6s pic.twitter.com/SvIYHOynDZ
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) November 16, 2024
“I thought the last play was the referee’s signal,” Rivers said. “These are now matches in a row in which an incorrect decision was made in the last action.
“LaMelo Ball went down. He just fell. There was no one nearby. He slipped himself. We come in with the ball and the game ends. So in the next games we got a call against us which is incorrect. We were lucky the kid missed two free throws in Detroit. LaMelo Ball made free throws tonight.
The Bucks had no challenge left or they would have taken advantage of it. And they would win both that and the match.
Then the judge – said Curtis Blair“During the live game we called foot-to-foot contact illegal. In our post-game review, when we looked at the action, there was no illegal contact during the game.
It is very frustrating to lose a match like this due to human errors of the referees. As Rivers mentioned, this is the second game in a row that this has happened.
Moreover, it was the official whose negligent hand waving resulted in Damian Lillard being hit in the face and suffering a concussion.
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