NBA admits they botched the no-call on James Harden’s late drive

The NBA released their “Last Two Minute” report, reviewing the calls made by officials in the final two minutes of Wednesday’s games, and the league ruled that the no-call on James Harden‘s late drive against the Memphis Grizzlies was “incorrect.”

“Randolph (MEM) makes contact across Harden’s (HOU) arm/wrist, causing him to lose the ball on the drive to the basket,” said the report.”

See: Full Report

With the game tied at 100 and just seconds remaining, Harden was blatantly fouled across the arms on a drive by Zach Randolph. No foul was called. Memphis quickly called timeout with 5.4 seconds left, Marc Gasol hit the game-winner with 0.1 ticks showing and that’s the way the cookie crumbled.

The game, pitting two of the top three seeds in the West against each other with a tiebreaker on the line, was huge for both squads and the lack of a call there had a significant impact on the outcome. It really wasn’t a tough “call” to make, then or now, as the video evidence shows.

Harden had plenty to say in the locker room after the play.