The Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers accidentally added 1 minute and 6 seconds to an extra play during Friday night's game, an NBA spokesperson announced Saturday.
The Grizzlies lost 123-120 at FedExForum.
During the third quarter of the game, the Grizzlies were whistled for a shot clock violation. With 1 minute and 14 seconds on the clock, the referee stopped the game as the shot clock was reset, even though the Grizzlies did not hit the rim on the possession.
However, when the shot clock was reset, the game clock was also reset from 1:14 to 2:20. No one seemed to notice, and the team continued for the rest of the game from that point. In other words, the match was extended by 1 minute and 06 seconds.
“The game clock was set incorrectly during the third quarter of last night's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum,” NBA spokesperson Tim Frank said in a statement to The Commercial Appeal. I have confirmed that there is.” “After the shot clock violation, the clock was set to 2:20 when it should have been 1:14. Teams, referees, game clock operators, and statisticians were not aware of this error in real time. Unfortunately, , the error was not identified in time to resolve the situation in-game.”
At 1:06 of extra time in the third quarter, the score was 2-2.
In fact, the Grizzlies took the lead with 1:06 remaining when Jake LaRabia made two free throws to put Memphis up 118-117. But the Lakers took control after that, with LeBron James clinching the victory with a powerful reverse dunk in the final seconds.
Overtime wasn't the only problem in this game. According to the NBA's “Last 2 Minutes” report, James should have been called for two travel violations in the past two minutes, but neither was called. The report also says a foul should have been called on Rui Hachimura on GG Jackson's shot attempt with 12.2 seconds left.
Friday's game wasn't particularly important for the Grizzlies, who were eliminated from playoff contention a while ago. But it was an important win for the Lakers, who are competing for seeding in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
Los Angeles enters Friday's game as the No. 8 seed, tied with the Kings and Warriors, but thanks to wins and losses for both teams, they have control of that spot.
Contact sportswriter Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.
