NBA’s last two minute report says that Nets’ Royce O’Neale defended Jimmy Butler’s drive legally

January 11, 2023

There was a good amount of outrage over the final play of Sunday’s game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Miami Heat. The Nets eventually won the contest 102-101 thanks to Royce O’Neale’s offensive rebound and putback with 3.2 seconds left on the clock.

After O’Neale’s putback, the Heat called a timeout so that they could regroup and draw up the best play possible to try to win the game. Once the teams came back from the timeout, Miami inbounded the ball to Jimmy Butler. Butler drove past Yuta Watanabe, but was met at the rim by O’Neale, but with a good amount of contact that could’ve been called a foul.

Some watching the game, and some of the Heat players, believe that the contact warranted the foul. However, in the NBA’s last two-minute report of that play, it was ruled that O’Neale maintained verticality throughout the contest and was therefore in legal guarding position.

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