Saturday represented a milestone for Jayson Tatum, and a significant one in the context of the game he was playing. In overtime against the Toronto Raptors, he made a game-winning 3-pointer as time expired to give his Boston Celtics a 126-123 victory. Not only did the shot redeem Tatum after he air-balled a possible winner at the end of regulation, but it gave him his first ever game-winning buzzer-beater in the regular season.
It also shouldn’t have counted.
According to the Last Two Minute Report released by the NBA on Sunday, Tatum traveled before he put the shot attempt up. The report indicates that he slid his pivot foot with 3.4 seconds remaining on the clock. As the game was tied at the time, a travel call would have handed Toronto the ball with a chance to win the game. Even if the Raptors had failed, they would have had a second overtime.
Now, there’s an important caveat at play here. The Last Two Minute Report also indicated another important mistake by the officials. With seven seconds left in overtime, the refs missed a foul by Davion Mitchell that would have sent Jaylen Brown to the line for two free throws. Notably, though, that outcome still gives Toronto a chance to win the game on the other side.
Even if Brown had made both of his foul shots, Toronto would have had seven seconds to respond. Tatum’s winner and Toronto’s inability to create a shot of its own therefore relied on two missed calls, one going in each direction.
Most of the time, missed calls in November are pretty meaningless. In this case, it could prove to be significant. The Celtics have already lost three games. That’s not a lot by normal standards, but remember, the Cleveland Cavaliers are undefeated at 14-0. Had Boston lost for a fourth time, Cleveland would have had a four-game advantage in the loss column for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavaliers and Celtics are set to play two games in the near future, and Boston’s Kristaps Porzingis is expected to miss both. Cleveland has an opportunity to run away with home-court advantage in the East. The missed call on Tatum’s winner will make it that much harder for the Cavaliers to separate themselves from the Celtics.
