The Last 2 Minute Report Confirms The Sixers Were Robbed
The Last 2 Minute Report is one of the most infuriating things in pro sports. it is supposed to be the NBA taking accountability for their mistakes. But admitting mistakes, with no recourse, means absolutely nothing. It is the equivalent of being robbed, the cops telling you they know who robbed you, but then saying they wont press charges, or actually do anything about it.
That frustrating dichotomy played out this week. There were clearly calls missed at the end of game 2. Tyrese Maxey got mugged by the Knicks on an inbounds pass, and there was no call. That eventually led to the Knicks hitting a go-ahead shot, and they won the game.
Was that the only reason they lost? No, they could have played better before, and after that play. But it is a reason they lost. If the game was properly called, Maxey would have been at the FT line, and the Sixers would have been up 4 points most likely. It would have put them in a perfect position to win the game, and the series would be 1-1 now, instead of 0-2.
And the Last 2 Minute Report eventually confirmed the Sixers were right to complain after the game.
Here is the Last 2 Minute Report:
The Takeaways From The Last 2 Minute Report:
- Any contact from Maxey on Brunson before the inbounds pass was marginal, and it was a correct non call. Maxey did not push off, as many Knicks fans tried to claim after the game
- Nick Nurse attempted to call a timeout before the inbounds pass, but it was neither “recognized nor granted.” Why it was not recognized, they don’t say. The fact they did not offer a good reason that the timeout was not granted, makes me think it should have been granted.
- Brunson pulled Maxey’s jersey, affecting his ability to secure the pass. Should have been a foul.
- Hart stepped into Maxey’s space, and made contact, causing Maxey to fall to the ground. Also should have been a foul
- Nick Nurse attempted to call another timeout, and it was not granted. This time they do offer a reason why. Maxey did not have possession of the ball, and therefore the Sixers don’t have the right to call a timeout. That is fair enough. But the 1st timeout still should have been granted.
What Does It Mean?
It means the Sixers were robbed. But knowing that information only makes us feel worse. Because nothing will be done about it. They obviously can’t go back and change things. They still lost the game.
The league is not going to punish the officials who made the mistake. John Goble’s crew will ref another game, and they might even ref another Sixers game if they survive long enough.
The only outcome will be the Sixers getting fined for complaining about being robbed. The league lets refs make mistake, after mistake, and nothing happens besides punishing anyone who calls the mistake out.
It is not just the Sixers who suffer from it. They have had the most mistakes negatively impact them this season, but it is a league-wide problem. It’s a sports-wide problem. Refining/umpiring feels like it is worse than it has ever been. The end of the Knicks game is just the most recent egregious example of it.
All the Last 2 Minute Report did was make us angrier.
Again, We Know It Isn’t The Only Reason They Lost
We Know. The only thing more annoying than how bad the refs are the people carrying water for them. Of course, it isn’t the only reason they lost. I have to repeat myself here because I know it is going to be a popular response to complaining about the refs.
Just because there were other contributing factors, does not make it okay that the refs screwed up. We don’t need the ref loyalists reminding us every single time about that.
Not sure why I am even saying this part, because most of the people whose immediate reply is “Thats not why they lost,” won’t actually click to read the article. They will just fire off a comment and then move on. But just so I have all of my bases covered, I am acknowledging that the refs are not the only reason they lost. But if they call was made correctly, this series would be 1-1.
Your anger over this is justified. Being mad about being robbed is the right response. If you get robbed, you shouldn’t immediately be coming up with excuses for the person who robbed you.
The refs screwed up, and the Sixers got robbed. The Last 2 Minute Report confirms it.
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6 Things Sixers President Daryl Morey Said When He Joined Our Show
Tyrese Maxey Passed All Tests With Flying Colors
“One big question coming in was Tyrese Maxey. We knew he was an amazing player, but we thought we’d get a better sense of where he’s at with, some of the other roster changes. And we got an even better sense of how he can play as as one of the primary guys when Joel was out. He passed everything with flying colors.”
Boston Is The Best Team He Has Seen Since The Warriors
“Boston’s a juggernaut. I mean, they’re the best team I’ve seen since the Golden State teams we went against when I was in the West. I think the other teams all have question marks. We are one of those teams. We need we need health. We need we need a few things to go our way. The Celtics don’t need a lot to go their way.
We feel very good about matching up with everybody where, you know, in terms of the Celtics that we do match up with them. More than most teams we think we match up pretty well. But they’re playing at a at a really high level. We’ve got to play them eventually if we’re going to reach our goal of winning the championship. So yeah, it’ll be it’ll be a challenge whenever we face them.”
Sees His Team As One of The Favorites
“I think we’re in this weird position of having some significant challenges during the regular season. But we feel like we’re one of the favorites. I don’t see three or 4 or 5 teams better than us. When when we have everyone, which, unfortunately, we don’t have everyone. But we have the horses. We feel like we go in as one of the favorites, but we’ve got the added challenge. It’s pretty rare you have to win one more one-and-done, to maintain being the favorite right up front.”
His Team Is On An Upswing
“In the past few years there was some negative news right before the playoffs. Now we’re on an upswing.
We’ve got Maxey on his ascendency. We have Joel still at this peak. When he’s when he’s been out there this year he’s been better than even his MVP year. We’ve got a mix of veterans that have won tons and tons of playoff games, some of them against me like Batum and Lowry. We’ve got guys who are, showing the league what they can do like the Oubres of the world.
We’ve got an upward trend. We’ve given ourselves an extra battle with Miami. But I feel like going into the playoffs, we have everyone playing on a really nice upward trend.”
His Ideas For the NBA Playoffs Format
“I think they should add more things to make the regular season meaningful. I think the top two teams should get byes. I think there should be even more of a Play-In tournament from seed 5 on. Home court should only go to the top few teams.
Obviously, it hurt us this season. But I do think it’s the right direction for the league. We generally have the least interesting playoffs of any of the major professional teams in terms of the better teams beating the worst teams. So adding drama like this is a positive for the league, even if it’s not positive for the Sixers this year.”
It Was Torture For Him Score Board Watching on Sunday
“Generally just torture. I like the planning part of the job that’s, you know, let’s figure out how to best way to win the championship. Because during the game, especially when it’s, you know, waiting for results from other teams, there’s really a lack of control there. It’s really mostly torture.
Especially when a game going your way is like 8-to 10-point lead and then it flips on you. That’s the part of the job I probably would take out if I could. I wish it could be just the methodical planning without a bunch of randomness if we could avoid it.”
