According to the NBA’s Last Two-Minute Report from the Boston Celtics' win over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night, the two offensive fouls called against James Harden in the final 7.3 seconds were both correct.
The NBA ruled that Harden “dislodged” Marcus Smart from his defensive position in both instances. The first one gave the Celtics the ball back before Al Horford hit the game-winning shot to make it 99-98, Boston. But upon further review, Horford moved his pivot foot on the sequence, which should’ve been a traveling violation, according to the league.
The NBA also ruled that Smart should’ve been called for traveling on the Celtics’ prior basket as well after shuffling his feet before hitting Jayson Tatum with an assist.
The report also found three different instances of missed traveling violations in the final minute by the Celtics.
Boston clawed back from a 26-point deficit to hand Houston its fourth consecutive loss. The game, coincidentally, only had a two-man officiating crew after ref Mark Lindsay hurt his back during warmups. That didn’t sit well with Harden, who finished with 34 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
“First of all, I want to know how you only have two officials on a national TV game?” he said after the loss. “That’s the first question. … It’s just tough. You can’t have two officials in a professional game. There’s a lot of no-calls that need to be called because that changes the dynamic of the game.”
Following a spate of ejections, it’s the latest complaint from an NBA star on the league’s officiating.
