The New Orleans Pelicans find themselves mired in a wretched funk as of late. They have lost ten of their past 12 games without Zion Williamson, including nine straight entering their Thursday night battle against the Dallas Mavericks. With these two teams jockeying for position in the standings, this game could have major implications in the playoff race. Thus, Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans truly need all the help they could get so they could snap out of their funk.
However, the Pelicans' rock bottom keeps on sinking further and further. With the Pelicans trailing by three, 109-106, with 6.6 seconds left in the game, they needed a miracle defensive stop to retrieve possession from the floundering Mavs, who lost Luka Doncic to injury after a scary fall.
The Pelicans gave Brandon Ingram the task to pressure the Mavs' inbounder, Josh Green, and Ingram seems to have done his job to perfection. Ingram tipped Green's inbound pass, and appeared to save the ball towards the waiting hands of Larry Nance Jr. without stepping out of bounds.
Unfortunately for the Pelicans, the officials ruled that Ingram had stepped out of bounds, giving the Mavs back possession as a result. But in another display of officiating mishap, Kevin Scott, the officiating crew chief for the game, admitted following the game that they had blown the call on the freefalling Pelicans.
“After postgame media review, Ingram was not out of bounds while making contact with the ball,” Scott told Tim Cato of The Athletic following the game, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN.
Officials say they blew both calls against the Pelicans late: Ingram was in bounds and there should’ve been 4.9 on the clock, not 3.4. pic.twitter.com/NsCQbNKJzb
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) February 3, 2023
There are no guarantees that Brandon Ingram and the Pelicans would have tied the game had the officials made the correct call. In a hypothetical scenario where the referees allowed Larry Nance Jr. to retrieve the ball, Nance would most certainly have passed the ball to CJ McCollum for a good look at a game-tying triple. Alas, that was not to be.
On the other hand, the Mavs got the fortune they so needed after squandering a huge lead following Luka Doncic's exit. This game is yet another case study on how valuable Doncic is to the Mavs, or how ill-equipped his supporting cast is for title contention.
Nevertheless, what the Pelicans could do now is shrug this loss off and prepare for their next game as they try to snap out of their rut against , the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. Here's to hoping blown calls don't take center stage for that matchup.
Follow Us
Subscribe