Tuesday night’s Eastern Conference Play-In Game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat was the single biggest NBA game of the season so far – after all, the winner clinched a spot in the NBA Playoffs. Given that, you would expect the referees to be at their absolute best during the game. But on at least one play during the game, that certainly wasn’t the case.
During a Hawks offensive possession in the fourth quarter of Tuesday evening’s crucial game, a referee made a perplexing and quite distracting blunder after Trae Young found teammate Bogdan Bogdanovic open in the corner. While there was no Miami Heat player in the area – Bogdanovic was wide open – a referee suddenly sprinted across the court right in front of him as he attempted his jump shot.
It’s not clear whether or not the referee impacted the shot, but Bogdanovic ultimately missed the three-point attempt.
It may just be one play in a lengthy basketball game, but fans and players undeniably hoped for better from the referees in the game. And people had plenty of reactions on social media.
As it turns out, the referees simply got confused about their positioning on the court.
Mistakes happen, but it was certainly odd to see such a clear blunder occur at the highest level in such a massive game.
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