Doc Rivers held on to his coach’s challenge until the game’s final three minutes. With 2:46 remaining, he successfully challenged one foul call on Andre Jackson Jr., keeping his challenge alive. Then, with 1:07 remaining, Rivers unsuccessfully challenged a call on the Bucks’ Taurean Prince.
He wishes he had one more.
With the Bucks up 114—143 and 7.3 seconds left, Giannis Antetokounmpo was called for a foul on a driving LaMelo Ball. Except, it wasn’t a foul. Even the Hornets broadcast admitted it.
Referee crew chief Curtis Blair admitted the mistake while talking to a pool reporter postgame.
“During live play we called illegal leg to leg to contact. During postgame review when we looked at the play there was no illegal contact on the play.”
Everyone knew it was the wrong call, but with the Bucks out of challenges, it stood. Ball hit both free throws and the Hornets got the 115-114 win.
“There was clearly not a foul,” a livid Doc Rivers said postgame. “When you watch the video, the ref was blocked out by one of our players. You can’t guess at the end of the game.”
That Milwaukee was in a tight game down the stretch with the Hornets speaks to the team’s
start to the season. The Bucks’ offense looked good behind Antetokounmpo, who had a triple-double with 22 points (on 22 shot attempts) with 15 rebounds and 12 assists. Prince led the team with 23 points, and Bobby Portis had 21 off the bench.
However, the Bucks couldn’t get stops when they needed it. Ball scored 15 of his 26 points on the night in the fourth quarter, and he got help with 19 points from Miles Bridges in his return from injury.
It was a bad call and break for Milwaukee, but there were more than 47 minutes before this where the Bucks didn’t put the game away, which is the bigger concern.
