The Celtics needed every split second of Game 6 to come out victorious against the Heat, as Derrick White hit a buzzer-beating putback with 0.1 seconds left.
But observers on social media noticed that it appears as if officials gave Boston too much time with a pivotal clock reset.
With Boston leading 102-100 in the final seconds, Al Horford fouled Jimmy Butler in the act of shooting beyond the three-point line, giving Miami a chance to take the lead. The referees reviewed the play to see where Butler’s feet were relative to the arc and to make sure they set the clock correctly.
However, The Athletic’s John Hollinger pointed out that Horford appeared to foul Butler with 2.8 seconds left on the clock.
looks more like 2.8 to me. Ball is out of his hands by 2.7 pic.twitter.com/dUgp4gValU
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) May 28, 2023
An amount of time that small usually doesn’t mean much, but it did in this game that truly went down to the final tenth of a second.
Butler made all three of his free throws, but there was plenty of time for the Celtics to design one last play, which led to White’s miraculous putback. Had the final play transpired exactly as it did with 2.8 seconds left instead of 3.0, the Heat would be preparing to face the Nuggets in the NBA Finals instead of going back to Boston for a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday night.
