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The 6 most baffling calls made by NBA officials this season, including the latest Pistons debacle

The NBA’s officials have had a rough year so far, to put it lightly.

People have always complained about officiating in the NBA and in other professional sports, too. It’s like a rite of passage at this point. Somebody will always have some complaint about a call made during a game. That’s sports.

With that said, folks. Listen. I’m not normally one who likes to hyperbolize things. But there have been some pretty awful and literally game-changing calls made in the NBA this season. It’s been pretty ridiculous.

Teams have legitimately lost games on the back of blown calls as we saw with the Pistons on Monday night. And the most teams have gotten from some of those calls has been an “our bad, guys.” No wonder teams have been so upset with the officiating this year.

With that in mind, let’s look at six of the worst calls we’ve seen this year.

6
Chauncey Billups gets ejected in a close game

With the Trail Blazers and the Thunder going back and forth in a close game, Chauncey Billups was given two technical fouls at the end of the fourth quarter after Malcolm Brogdon got away with a double-dribble.

Billups was incensed here. Rightfully so — Brogdon should’ve been called for a violation. Instead of that, though, Billups gets ejected and the Thunder get two free throws before eventually going on and winning the game.

5
The Lakers phantom timeout

Ah, man. The In-Season tournament. Remember those days? The Lakers were good back then. And a little lucky, too.

LA got some officiating help in a close game with the Suns in the tournament’s quarterfinal game. The Lakers somehow get a timeout off here…without possessing the ball? Watch this:

At the time, that was probably the worst call made of the season by the officials. Since then, it’s been beat.

4
Devin Booker's ejection in six minutes

There’s something about the Suns, man. Phoenix keeps popping up in some officiating drama. Devin Booker was ejected with two technicals just six minutes into this game against the Pistions.

Six minutes, folks.

That’s wild.

3
Nikola Jokic's ejections

Nikola Jokic — the league’s reigning Finals MVP — faced a similar situation to Booker. He was ejected for arguing with officials for a few minutes about a lane violation call against the Pistons.

To be fair to officials, Jokic was being a bit obsessive here. But still. All this over a lane violation and a no-call? This was weird.

But it doesn’t stop here. He was ejected a couple of weeks later against the Bulls — basically for the same thing. It’s wild to see one of the league’s best players treated like this.

2
A 3-point foul against the Knicks

For a while, this call against the Knicks seemed like it would legitimately be the worst one.

Jalen Brunson was called for a foul against the Rockets in the final moments of a game. Instead of going into overtime, the Rockets shot three free throws and sealed the game.

The call was egregiously bad. This very clearly wasn’t a foul. Officials even admitted after the game that the call was wrong.

The Knicks deserved justice. As it turns out, they’d only have to wait a couple weeks to get it.

1
New York gets away with a late foul against Detroit

Poor Pistons, man. This is already the worst team in the NBA without the officials standing in the way of a win. When that happens? Whew, boy. It’s not a great look.

Ausar Thompson was blatantly tripped while fighting for a loose ball against the Knicks. New York recovered the ball and it led to a game-winning layup.

Again, officials admitted after the game that the wrong call was made. But by then it was too late — the game was over and Monty Williams was already on his rant.

He’ll probably get a fine from the NBA here, but he certainly won’t deserve it.

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