the Celtics needed every split second in Game 6 to emerge victorious against heatAs Derrick White hit a buzzer-beating putback with 0.1 seconds left.
But social media observers noted that officials seemed to be giving Boston too much time in an important clock reset.
With Boston ahead, 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 checked the play to see where Butler’s feet were relative to the arc and to make sure they were setting the clock correctly.
However,The AthleticJohn Hollinger’s John Hollinger pointed out that Horford appeared to foul Butler with 2.8 seconds left on the clock.
it looks like 2.8 to me. The ball is out of his hands at 2.7 pic.twitter.com/dUgp4gValU
— John Hollinger (@johnhollinger) May 28, 2023
The amount of time that is so small usually doesn’t matter much, but it does in this game which really comes down to the last tenth of a second.
Butler made all three of his free throws, but there was enough time for the Celtics to design one last play, which led to White’s miraculous comeback. If the last play had gone as it did with 2.8 seconds left instead of 3.0, the Heat would have been preparing to face the Nuggets in the NBA Finals instead of returning to Boston for a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday night.
