Pistons coach rages at refs over late no-call in playoff loss to Knicks
The New York Knicks narrowly defeated the Detroit Pistons in Game 4 of their first-round playoff matchup on Sunday afternoon, 94-93, as it came down to a controversial end.
Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns nailed two clutch shots in the final moments to give New York the one-point advantage.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
Cade Cunningham and the Pistons had possession with under 10 seconds to play. Cunningham got a decent look at the foul line, but his shot was off the mark. The ball bounced around before Tim Hardaway Jr. got it in the corner. He pump-faked to make Knicks guard Josh Hart jump. Hardaway leaned into Hart to try to draw a foul. No foul was called as Hardaway missed his shot.
Detroit head coach J.B. Bickerstaff stormed onto the court and appeared to yell at the officials, "That’s a f---ing foul." The officials didn’t oblige and the Knicks took a 3-1 series lead.
Bickerstaff sounded off on the play at the end of the game.
2025 NBA PLAYOFF ODDS TRACKER: WHO WILL EMERGE FROM FIRST ROUND?
"There's contact on Tim Hardaway's jump shot. I don't know any other way around it, there's contact on his jump shot," Bickerstaff said, via ESPN. "(Hart) leaves his feet; he's at Timmy's mercy. I repeat, there's contact on his jump shot."
NBA officials admitted to making a mistake after the game was finished.
"During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play," crew chief David Guthrie said. "After postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr. and a foul should have been called."
Towns finished with 27 points and nine rebounds. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 32 points, 11 assists and five rebounds despite dealing with an ankle issue.
Cunningham had 25 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the loss.
Game 5 is set for Tuesday night.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.