PHOENIX — If you watched the end of the Jazz-Suns game Monday night, you may have thought the Jazz caught a bit of a break when the referees failed to check the exact time a foul occurred on the final play of the fourth quarter that allowed Utah to eke out a 96-95 win over Phoenix in the Valley of the Sun.
Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell drained the first of two free throws with four-tenths of a second left to play. He intentionally missed the second and time expired before Suns’ center Frank Kaminsky could hurl the ball toward the basket on the other end of the court.
Some fans and TV analysts wondered aloud if there should have been more time put back on the clock, thinking there may have been just over one second on the clock when the referee’s whistle blew.
“Events that are indirectly related to the outcome of a possession (e.g., a noncall on contact away from the play) and/or plays that are only observable with the help of a stop-watch, zoom or other technical support, are noted in brackets along with the explanatory comments but are not deemed to be incorrectly officiated,” the report stated.
The review upheld the decisions made on the court by noting the officials acted appropriately under the circumstances.
The report indicated that Phoenix guard Devin Booker made contact with Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell’s arm during Mitchell’s driving shot attempt. According to the league assessment, the whistle occurred with 1.2 seconds on the game clock, but the officials did not see that the game clock continued to run down to 0.4 remaining. By rule, officials cannot use instant replay to review clock malfunctions unless the clock runs down to zero, therefore the league deemed the officiating as the “correct call.”
In other words, the refs got it right under current league rules.