Pistons, Knicks miffed by officiating in bizarre ending - ESPN

DETROIT — It would seem that there's no love lost between the Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks, who are engaged in the East's most competitive first-round series by far.

In Thursday's highly physical Game 3 — a down-to-the-wire contest that the Knicks survived to win 118-116 and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series — there were five technical fouls and one flagrant whistled.

But for all the angst, both clubs seemed miffed, if not downright frustrated, by a pair of odd plays that were or weren't whistled in the game's closing seconds.

The Pistons trailed 116-113 with five seconds left and were preparing to foul Knicks star Jalen Brunson as he caught an inbound pass from teammate Mikal Bridges to try to run out the clock. But as he caught the ball around midcourt, his body appeared to be in the frontcourt first before his momentum pulled him into the backcourt, where he dribbled until being fouled by Detroit's Ausar Thompson with 3.5 seconds to go.

Pistons fans, including ex-NBA star Jalen Rose, who was sitting courtside, immediately voiced their displeasure with the lack of a call, even more so when replays were shown on the Little Caesars Arena video screen. So did Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who was befuddled by it all.

«He catches the ball in the frontcourt, recognizes that he's getting ready to go into the backcourt, then drops the ball,» Bickerstaff said of Brunson. «There are some things procedurally that I have questions about, and I'd be interested to hear some answers.»

In a postgame pool report interview to explain the call, crew chief Zach Zarba said Brunson hadn't truly established position in the frontcourt when he first caught the ball.

«Brunson and the trajectory of the pass were headed toward