The NBA admitted Wednesday that the Indiana Pacers’ historic comeback against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 was built on a pair of blatantly missed lane violations.
In the last two minutes of the game, the league identified two games in the last minute that were supposed to be invalid and replaced with Midcourt's jump ball, saying they were incorrect.
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In the first show, Pacers forward Pascal Siakam has 48 seconds left and has committed multiple lane violations on free throws. Among the early jumpers, there are winged Aaron Nesmith, who got rebounds and dunks, cutting Cleveland's lead by five.
The league said Ness Smith's dunk should not be included. The problematic drama also left Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell in pain on the floor, even though he later returned to a 48-point night.
Most NBA fans can tell you what happened afterwards. Ness Smith's dunk was the first of a series of unfortunate events, with the Cavaliers winning the game's three-pointer with Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton with 1.1 seconds left, giving Indiana a 2-0 lead, with the series going to home.
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That three-pointer came after missing a lane violation in the second set, as Halliburton only got the ball after only the second of two free throws with 11.2 seconds left. The NBA again pointed out that multiple players jumped very early - you can see four different Cavaliers online at the time of Haliburton's release, but also pointed out that shooter Haliburton stepped on the plane at the free throw line before the ball hit the rim.
Similarly, the league said the game should be stopped and a jump ball should be held in the midfield, rather than letting Halliburton get a rebound and become a hero.
It is worth noting that while lane violations are clearly listed in the NBA rulebook, they are rarely called in actual game scenarios outside of the most blatant situations, especially in the crunch time in the playoffs.
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Fans were right when summoning officials for missing lane violations, but that didn't tell the Cavaliers to complain about these things after the game, and Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson wasn't without problems at the ceremony. That's how modern games are played, although it's arguably the NBA may be more alert overall to avoid situations like Wednesday's game, between calls from officials following a letter from rulebook or calling the game in the way players expect.
In Game 2 it was good for the Cavaliers' Pacers, and Ryan's illegal behavior was good for the Cavaliers. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
(Jason Miller via Getty Images)The NBA noted that there was another missed call before Halliburton shot because the league said Mitchell should have been asked to defend for 3 seconds with 15 seconds left.
It can be said that you won't delete the seven-point lead in 48 seconds and it won't get weird. So far, it's a ridiculous run of the Pacers in the playoffs, and now the Cavaliers need to win four of five games to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.