DETROIT — This time, the Pistons got the answers they were looking for. It will do them little good, though.
In the closing seconds of the Knicks’ 94-93 Game 4 win over the Pistons Sunday afternoon at Little Caesars Arena, Tim Hardaway Jr. took a 3-pointer that could have given Detroit a buzzer-beater win.
Cade Cunningham had missed his potential go-ahead jumper, and after the rebound was batted around, Hardaway picked up the loose ball and took his shot, which he missed.
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart #3, defends Detroit Pistons forward Tim Hardaway Jr. #8, on the last shot of the game as the Knicks beat the Pistons giving them a 3-1 lead in the series. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostJosh Hart came out aggressively to contest the shot and made contact with Hardaway. The refs, however, did not call a foul, which would have given Hardaway three free throws, only needing to make two to take the lead or one to tie the game, with just over a second left.
Crew chief David Guthrie said after the game that a foul should have been called.
“During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play,” Guthrie said. “After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. #8 of the Detroit Pistons recovers a loose ball and puts up a shot as Josh Hart #3 of the New York Knicks defends with seconds left in the fourth quarter. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Hardaway were livid about the referee blunder.
“You go back and look at the film, the guy leaves his feet,” Bickerstaff said. “There’s contact on Tim Hardaway, his jump shot. I don’t know any other way around it. There’s contact on his jump shot. The guy leaves his feet, he’s at Timmy’s mercy, and I repeat, there’s contact on his jump shot.”
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Hardaway only answered one question before leaving after the game.
“You guys saw it,” Hardaway said. “Blatant.”
The New York Knicks react after Tim Hardaway Jr. #8 of the Detroit Pistons misses a shot with seconds left in the fourth quarter. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
Detroit Pistons head coach J. B. Bickerstaff reacts to a call during the first quarter. Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostBickerstaff was similarly apoplectic after Game 3, when he demanded answers from the league about a non-call for a backcourt violation on Jalen Brunson down the stretch. The league said that decision was correct, though.
This time, his gripes are justified.
Hart himself appeared to be fouled by Tobias Harris on the rebound to Cunningham’s shot before the ball found Hardaway. It was not called.
Hart didn’t exactly plead innocence about his contest on Hardaway.
“Did I make contact with him? Yeah, I made contact with him. Was it legal? I don’t know,” Hart said. “We’ll let the two-minute report say that. He shot-faked. I felt like I kind of got there. I felt like I was kind of strayed up. He kind of jumped into me trying to get the foul. At the end of the game, it’s tough. Especially that kind of play, bodies flying.”
The Pistons did not have a challenge remaining, but they could not have challenged the play anyway since it was a non-call.
