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The NBA has a Last Two Minute Report where the league assesses the calls made by the referees in one-possession games with less than two minutes to go. The 4th game of the Eastern Conference semi-final between the Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks was one such game, as the Bucks sans Giannis Antetokounmpo rallied hard to avoid being swept by the Heat.
The Milwaukee Bucks eventually won the game 118-115 in overtime, after the two were tied 107-107 at the end of four quarters of basketball. Khris Middleton overcame his recent struggles from the field to drop an impressive stat line of 36-8-8 and the Bucks survived for at least one more game. However, the NBA has now admitted to a crucial mistake which helped the Milwaukee Bucks win the game at the expense of the Miami Heat.
Milwaukee Bucks helped by referees to beat Miami Heat?
The NBA has come to the conclusion that with a little over 24 seconds left on the game clock and Miami Heat up 107-106, Jimmy Butler was fouled by George Hill on an attempted jumper which wasn't called by the referees on the floor. Had it been called, the game would've been much harder for the Milwaukee Bucks to salvage.
Instead, Khris Middleton grabbed the rebound on that no-call, and Donte DiVicenzo ended up going to the free-throw line himself as a consequence of the offensive possession the Milwaukee Bucks ran. DiVincenzo split a pair of free-throws, and the game went into overtime. Jimmy Butler and the heat will feel that the Milwaukee Bucks are still in the series due to the generosity showed by the referees down the stretch in game 4, and it is certainly not a good look on a league to be missing an important call like that.
Jamal Crawford, other NBA veterans want to see Isaiah Thomas back with the Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics' landslide victory over the Toronto Raptors in game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals, was met with a lot of praise for their star guard Kemba Walker. Walker was instrumental in the Boston Celtics taking care of business in dominating fashion, and that led one of the NBA's former stars to demand the inclusion of an ex-Celtic to the team's guard rotation to make it even stronger.
Jamal Crawford, a three-time sixth man of the year award winner, called for the Boston Celtics to pick up Isaiah Thomas this off-season, a player who enjoyed tremendous success with the Cs before. Thomas was an MVP candidate during his days with the Boston Celtics, and although he might not be operating at that level any longer, he could still provide some valuable scorin off the bench.
Quincy Pondexter also tweeted in agreement of the same.
If the Boston Celtics do decide to bring Isaiah Thomas back, it would surely be an emotional return as the 5'9" point guard had the best moments of his career donning the Celtics green.
