NBA tries justifying egregious, game-changing no-call in Pistons-Cavs in final seconds
The NBA said it was correct for the referees not to call a foul on the Cavaliers in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter against the Pistons in a game Cleveland won in overtime.
“[Jarrett] Allen and [Ausar] Thompson legally steps into the same spot in pursuit of the loose ball [before either player has possession]and both lose their balance due to marginal contact,” the league said in its Last Two Minute Report on Thursday.
But it didn’t happen that way.
As seen in the video below, Allen tripped and fouled Thompson. Had the foul been called, Thompson would have gone to the free throw line and the score would have been 103-103 with less than a second left in the game.
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Game analyst Tim Legler said in the replay: “There were a few of them left when this happened.”
Even though Thompson was only a 60% free throw shooter, the odds would have been heavily favored for Detroit if the referees had called the foul correctly.
Detroit Pistons PG Cade Cunningham drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers SG Donovan Mitchell in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Playoffs second-round series at Little Caesars Arena in Michigan. (Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)
Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff agrees.
“[Allen] Bickerstaff said after the game: “He fouled Ausar – clearly. He tripped him for a loose ball.”
Bickerstaff entered the game dissatisfied with the officiating in the series and pointed out the free throw disparity in Game 4.
“This is unacceptable,” Bickerstaff said, via Coty Davis of the Detroit News. “We honestly didn’t do enough to help ourselves, and I’ll start there. But since we got to Cleveland, the whistle has changed. There’s no way a guy on their team is going to make more free throws than our team.”
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For context, the Pistons made just 12 free throw attempts in Monday night’s loss to the Cavaliers. Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell made 15 free throws of his own.
Still, crew chief Tony Brothers stands by his poor officiating.
He said of the non-call on Wednesday: “During live play both players were heading for the ball and there was an accidental contact to the legs where neither player had possession of the ball.”
“There was an incidental contact on the play. The play will be reviewed by the league office tomorrow and will be published on L2M,” he added.
Cleveland Cavaliers PG James Harden is defended by Detroit Pistons winger Ausar Thompson during Game 1 of the 2026 Eastern Conference Semifinals. (Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images)
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The Cavs will host the Pistons for Game 6 on Friday. Detroit wants some make-up talks.
