Tom Thibodeau puts no-call on contact in Raptors game in rearview mirror
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts while watching a replay during the second half of an NBA game against the Raptors on Monday at Madison Square Garden. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
Tom Thibodeau wanted to see the film Monday when he saw no foul call on a last-second dunk by RJ Barrett that sent the game into overtime — and eventually, a loss that could have been won at the buzzer in regulation if a foul was called. But the NBA looked at the film, too, and in the last two minute report released Tuesday determined that the call was correct.
While the league said that the no call was correct, the comment claimed that "[the Raptors' Scottie] Barnes makes contact with Barrett's upper off-arm during his dunk shot that does not affect the speed, quickness, balance and/or rhythm of his shot."
But if a shot isn’t changed and goes in wouldn’t that eliminate almost every traditional three-point play?
“I don’t want to go backwards,” Thibodeau said. “It was the way the game went. Sometimes they go your way, sometimes they don’t. you just move on . . .The official has to use his judgment. That’s probably a 45-50% call that could go either way. When they say marginal contact, it’s what they think. If that’s what they thought then that’s what they thought.
“It wasn’t a foul because they didn’t call it. Not every call is going to go your way. You just move on. We had a chance to win it at the end and we didn’t get it done.”
Close calls
The overtime loss to Toronto is just one of seven games that the Knicks have lost in the final minute this season.
"Just keep working on it,” Thibodeau said. “If you dig into the numbers the last six weeks, I think we’ve had the best record in the league, the defense is at the top, the offense is at the top, the net rating is at the top. We have to figure it out. Sometimes it’s just a quirk. More often than not, we’re at a rest disadvantage [the Knicks have not had a rest advantage in any game this season]. We came back, we had a back-to-back here. We’ve got to find a way to win those games. It doesn’t matter if your opponent has two days off and you’re on a back to back.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
