The NBA's last-two-minute report confirmed that referees missed a 24-second violation on the Boston Celtics with little more than a minute to play in Tuesday's Game 5 of a first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks expressed frustration that referees failed to whistle what seemed like an obvious infraction. The NBA confirmed the missed call in their daily review and also noted that Al Horford should have been called for a travel before he took a shot trying to beat the shot-clock buzzer.
Al Horford's 3-point attempt with 1:18 remaining seemed to come after the 24-second clock had expired in a five-point game. Instead, Celtics rookie Semi Ojeleye tapped out a rebound as Bucks players motioned for a whistle and Terry Rozier hustled to secure the ball.
Thon Maker was whistled for a foul for making contact with Rozier's head while chasing the rebound. The Celtics didn't score on their ensuing possession but were able to take the clock down to 48 seconds before the Bucks regained possession.
The Celtics emerged with a 92-87 triumph to take a 3-2 lead in the series.
Asked after the game about the lack of a 24-second violation, Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe vented.
"I think it was bulls---, point blank," Bledsoe said before a Bucks media relations staffer ended his postgame session with reporters.
Bucks coach Joe Prunty was asked if he got an explanation about the non-call.
"Not a good enough one," said Prunty. "I was asking for a shot clock violation. I didn't think he got the ball off, so I said, 'That's a shot clock violation.' That was my discussion. You'll have to ask them if they can review it. I just know what I said, it's a shot clock violation. Didn't get the ball off.
"For me, maybe I had a good view of it, I just didn't think he got it off, so I voiced my opinion on that."
In a meeting with a pool reporter, referee Ken Mauer said the potential shot clock violation was not reviewable.
"The rule states that under 2 minutes we are not allowed to review a potential 24-second violation unless the ball goes in the basket," Mauer said, according to a pool report distributed by the league.
The Celtics weren't pleased that, at the end of Game 4, Khris Middleton wasn't whistled for striking Jaylen Brown on a sequence that prevented Boston from having a chance to extend its lead in the final minute. The league's Last 2 Minute report later noted that a foul should have been called on Middleton.
The league will release a Last 2 Minute report about Tuesday's game on Wednesday. But some Bucks stressed that they couldn't pin Tuesday's loss on a potential missed call.
"Well, [the refs] gave us a few calls, too," said Jabari Parker. "That didn't really dictate the whole game. So just -- we got to forget about that one."
Added Giannis Antetokounmpo: "The ball got to go in or it's got to be an airball shot for the referee to review the shot. The ball did not [go] in, they got the offensive rebound so we couldn't review the play. That's the rules of the game and we just got to play through that."