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New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson couldn’t believe it. His coach, Tom Thibodeau, was livid.
Brunson’s costly foul — which the referees admitted to be wrong — with 0.3 seconds left allowed the Houston Rockets to escape with a 105-103 win on Monday, February 3, at Toyota Center.
With a sober mood, Brunson and Thibodeau sarcastically answered questions about it during their postgame interviews.
“Great call,” Brunson said via NBA.com. “Next question.”
Asked if he disagreed with the call, Thibodeau dodged the question.
“You look at it,” he simply said.
Asked again what he thought about the officiating, Thibodeau mirrored Brunons’ reply: “It was great, great!”
When pressed more, Thibodeau finally relented and gave his take on the game’s officiating which saw huge disparity in free throws — the Rockets went 23 of 33 while the Knicks sank only 7 of 12.
“I don’t really care how tight the game is called,” Thibodeau said. “You can call it tight or you can call it loose, I just would like the consistency to be the same. They have a job. They have to control and manage the game.”
Without a coach’s challenge, Thibodeau and the Knicks did not have the chance to overturn the call. Thibodeau already lost his challenge on a blocking foul called on Taj Gibson in the first half.
Crew Chief Admits It Was the ‘Wrong Call’
Crew Chief Ed Malloy admitted referee Jacyn Goble’s call was a mistake. But they could not overturn it without a coach’s challenge. They can only review if the whistle was blown before the buzzer.
“In live action, it was felt that the lower body contact was illegal,” Malloy said in the NBA pool report. “After seeing it during [the] postgame review, the offensive player was able to return to a normal playing position on the floor. The contact which occurred after the release of the ball therefore is incidental and marginal to the shot attempt and should not have been called.”
Goble was the same referee who was involved in the controversial Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics game last season. The eight-year veteran referee missed a clear foul that would’ve sent LeBron James to the line to win the game for the Lakers, which the NBA admitted should have been called.
This time, Goble blew his whistle when he shouldn’t have.
Fans, Journalists Up in Arms Over Costly Call
It was not only the Knicks who were left fuming mad about the controversial ending of the Knicks-Rockets game.
Fans and even the media were up in arms against Goble’s blunder which cost the Knicks their third straight loss.
Multi-awarded actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller, a die-hard Knicks fan, called out the NBA after the game.
Fox Sports’ NBA reporter Yaron Weitzman described it as the “worst call of the year.”
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps pushed it further.
Knicks-Houston
Former NBA champion and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins said it was a “[expletive] call.”
MMA reporter and noted Knicks fan Ariel Helwani also chimed in, describing it as “one of the worst calls ever.”
More fans and journalists gave their take.
Associated Press’ Brian Mahoney was the only one who agreed with Gobley’s call which he tweeted before the Malloy admitted it was wrong.
“It’s one of those were as much as you hate to see a foul called there, Brunson fouled him,” Mahoney wrote on X, formerly Twitter, quoting The Athletic’s Fred Katz comment on the controversial call.
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