L2M report confirms Giannis stepped out before game-winning dunk
The NBA's last-two-minute report from Friday's clash between the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder officially confirmed what many suspected in real time: Giannis Antetokounmpo stepped out of bounds prior to delivering a game-winning dunk over Russell Westbrook.
Giannis POSTERIZES Westbrook FOR THE WIN!! pic.twitter.com/lzFKsc3c7b
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 30, 2017
With the missed call directly changing the outcome of the game, Thunder players were appropriately unimpressed:
Melo on the final play: “I guess we’ll see something on the ticker that says, referees missed that one.” pic.twitter.com/VSkHjJx3uB
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) December 30, 2017
Per league rules, the officials didn't have the authority to review whether Antetokounmpo was out of bounds due to the nature of the offense and because the call was missed in real time: "Referees can only initiate a review on a called out-of-bounds play (for example, not one where an out-of-bounds might have occurred) and only those involving doubt as to which player caused the ball to go out (not those, for example, where a player stepped on the line)."
In addition to the controversial non-call in the dying seconds, the NBA announced that three additional calls were missed - one lane violation by the Thunder, which allowed Westbrook to corral a missed free throw by Malcolm Brogdon, and two non-calls that worked in the Bucks' favor.
All three of the incorrect non-calls that favored the Bucks involved Antetokounmpo.
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