Troy
02-26-2004, 06:00 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA acknowledged Thursday there was an officiating mistake in the final minute of the Los Angeles Lakers' 112-111 victory over the host Denver Nuggets.
With the Nuggets leading Wednesday night's game 111-109, a shot by Denver's Andre Miller appeared to brush the rim and barely beat the shot clock. Teammate Carmelo Anthony got the rebound, but the whistle blew for a shot-clock violation. The officials huddled and ruled it was an inadvertent whistle, resulting in a jump ball.
The Lakers won the tip, leading to Kareem Rush's winning 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left.
But NBA senior VP Stu Jackson said Thursday that there shouldn't have been a whistle on the play.
``That call was incorrect because the ball, in fact, hit the rim,'' Jackson said. ``This was an unfortunate call at a highly critical point in the game, and we very much regret the error.''
With the Nuggets leading Wednesday night's game 111-109, a shot by Denver's Andre Miller appeared to brush the rim and barely beat the shot clock. Teammate Carmelo Anthony got the rebound, but the whistle blew for a shot-clock violation. The officials huddled and ruled it was an inadvertent whistle, resulting in a jump ball.
The Lakers won the tip, leading to Kareem Rush's winning 3-pointer with 3.2 seconds left.
But NBA senior VP Stu Jackson said Thursday that there shouldn't have been a whistle on the play.
``That call was incorrect because the ball, in fact, hit the rim,'' Jackson said. ``This was an unfortunate call at a highly critical point in the game, and we very much regret the error.''