The officiating at the end of Monday night’s Game 1 between the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks has come under intense scrutiny.
While ESPN’s Jay Williams did not go as far as the fans who felt the game was “rigged,” he did take aim at the controversial illegal screen call on Indiana’s Myles Turner with 12.1 seconds remaining in New York’s 121-117 win.
The Knicks were up one at the time, and Williams argued that the ref’s decision “robbed” both the Pacers and those watching the game.
“Indiana got robbed. We got robbed one of the best moments and most exciting games that we’ve seen throughout the playoffs last night,” said Williams, via Awful Announcing. “That’s the reality — I mean, that screen happens so many times throughout the course of the game. And as (Tim Legler) brought up in Hour 1, the screen is literally the possession before that, DiVincenzo has both arms up and is moving, and they didn’t call that a moving screen. But they called Myles Turner at that critical possession of the game a moving screen?
“It makes no sense. I think it was an embarrassment to the league.”
ESPN’s Jay Williams sounded off on the officiating in the closing seconds of Monday’s Game 1 between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers:
“It makes no sense. I think it was an embarrassment for the league.” pic.twitter.com/IPfPlAmSZ9
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 7, 2024
Following the game, the NBA acknowledged that another controversial call–a kicked ball violation called on the Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith with less than a minute to play–was incorrect.
The Knicks maintained possession due to the officiating error and took the lead for good moments later on a Donte DiVincenzo three-pointer.
As for the illegal screen, Turner tried to be as diplomatic as possible about it after the loss.
“Just in my experience in this league I think it’s best when you let the players decide the outcome of the game,” Turner said. “I think it’s unfortunate that it happened … called it an illegal screen. It’s the playoffs. I think DiVincenzo did a good job selling it. For the most part you can’t leave the game to be decided by the refs. We have to take accountability as well. We know at the end of the day we can’t get to that position.”
Game 2 between the Knicks and Pacers is set for 8 p.m. ET Wednesday night.