The Miami Heat narrowly topped the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the NBA Finals 111-108 Sunday night in a game filled with some questionable missed calls from the referees.
The two most egregious no-calls in a lot of NBA fans' minds both went in favor of the Heat, which sparked plenty of reactions on social media from Nuggets fans during and after the game.
In the third quarter, Jimmy Butler appeared to step out of bounds along the baseline before assisting a Gabe Vincent three-pointer.
In a game that the Heat won by 3 points, the refs missed a call on Jimmy Butler stepping out of bounds leading to a wide-open 3.
Did the refs cost the Nuggets the game on this? đ¤pic.twitter.com/Lb9A48hoEm
â ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 5, 2023
Then with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter, with the Nuggets trailing by 11, the referees did not call goaltending on this block by Bam Adebayo.
Did Bam Adebayo and the Heat get away with goaltending on this block on Jamal Murray?
Good no-call or missed goaltend? đ¤pic.twitter.com/ilkAjLqIg3
â ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) June 5, 2023
You'd be hard-pressed to find a group of people in sports who are more criticized than NBA referees. The spotlight shines that much brighter on them during the finals and every call or no-call gets ridiculed by someone. Sunday night was no different.
Refs are gifting the Heat this game. Theyâre flopping all over the place, and the refs are buying it.
Kind of pathetic itâs happening in the Finals.
â Jared Zeroâď¸ đ (@JaredZero_NBA) June 5, 2023
absolutely atrocious miss of that bam goaltend. insanely pro heat whistle in denver. i hate investing so much time in this league sometimes man. these refs suck so fucking bad
â Kevin (@NBACouchside) June 5, 2023
NBA refs are by far the worst of any pro sport
â Bask (@baskgod) June 5, 2023
Hilarious that @OfficialNBARefs didnât post the referees to the nba finals game last night. Perhaps itâs because John Goble, the ref making some of the worst calls against the Nuggets, was born in miami, graduated high school and college in, miami and lives to this day in Miami
â luke âď¸ (@dnuggey) June 5, 2023
Referees are never going to be perfect but that wonât stop fans from being critical, especially when some calls or non-calls seem to have a significant impact on a game of this magnitude.
Nuggets and NBA fans alike are open to their opinions on the referees, but some of the blame can be thrown the NBA's way for not allowing certain plays to be reviewed, including a non-goaltending call.
It's easy for Nuggets fans to blame the referees, and maybe they did miss some calls that would have changed the course of the game, but the officials didnât allow the Heat to open the fourth quarter on a 17-4 run. The Nuggets lost the game, whether the referees are to blame or not.