The bad calls in the Miami Heat versus Milwaukee Bucks game weren’t the expected ones

The missed calls by the referees in the classic Miami Heat 116-114 win over the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t involve Goran Dragic or Giannis Antetokounmpo. Turns out the last-minute trap on Jimmy Butler was not legit after official review.

Let’s rewind the conclusions from the NBA Last-2-Minute Report where INC is an INCorrect call.

“Korver (MIL) makes contact with Butler’s (MIA) arm that affects his balance after he gathers the pass.”

“Hill (MIL) is standing on the sideline when he makes contact with the ball.”

“Butler (MIA) jumps out of bounds and touches the floor before releasing the ball back inbounds.”

In other words Kyle Korver was not called for a personal foul, play was not stopped when George Hill stepped out of bounds, and Butler turned the ball over before his ill-advised pass. The Bucks twitter account brags about team defense, but their trap on Butler broke the rules according to the official Last-2-Minute report.

Instead of a Brook Lopez basket, Butler deserved two free throws that would have extended Miami’s lead to 115-109 with about 13 seconds remaining, if he made them both, or the very least an inbound play by either team.

As the replay shows there was no way Butler could have made that pass while still on the court.

The huge controversy about fouls by Dragic and Antetokoumpo makes for great press, but the real officiating mistakes were against Butler with a non-called personal foul and a Bucks player stepping out-of-bounds. Butler is really good at the craft of winning plays. Next time the Bucks trap Butler let them know it’s at their own peril.