Monty Williams sat out Monday night's Detroit Pistons loss to the New York Knicks.
The Pistons head coach was furious with the officials after what he felt was a blatant missed call in a chaotic display in the final seconds at Madison Square Garden. Williams berated the referees and the league for a full minute before he stood up and left the interview room following a 113-111 loss to the Knicks.
“Worst call of the season, no call. Enough is enough,” Williams said. “We've done it the right way, we've called the league, we've sent out clips. We're just amazed that we're hearing the same thing over and over again. We had a chance to win the game and the guy stepped into Ausser's feet and there was no call. That's an abomination. You can't miss that in an NBA game. period.”
Those comments are sure to land Williams fines from the league in the coming days.
In his defense, it's easy to understand why he was so upset. The finish was truly chaotic in the final seconds on Monday night. Both teams struggled to maintain possession as the Knicks missed shots as the Pistons extended their one-point lead. After several missed shots and turnovers, Auser Thompson grabbed the ball and began to drive it down the court.
But before he could make any headway, Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo dove for the ball, taking out Thompson's legs in the process. No foul was called.
Jalen Brunson grabbed the loose ball and found Josh Hart, who made a layup and eventually hit a free throw to convert the three-point play and give the Knicks the win.
Although there was plenty of contact between DiVincenzo and Thompson, officials did not call a foul.
Do refs really call a foul when a player breathes too much on someone and somehow swallows their whistle here? No I would be angry pic.twitter.com/2M2t4SnsA0
— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) February 27, 2024
“That situation illustrates a scenario we've been dealing with all season, fair enough,” Williams said. “You can't dive into a guy's legs in a big-time game like this and not have a call. It's ridiculous, and we're tired. We want a fair game called period. And there's nothing else I can say. We want a fair game, and it's fair. No. I'm done.”
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau didn't want to get directly into the lineup after the game, but said he thought “in general, it was very physical” between the two teams.
“You can go back the whole game and make nitpick calls,” DiVincenzo said. Via Fred Katz of The Athletic. “Do I think we dodged a bullet overall? Yes. I have a lot of respect for Monty and everyone there. Like I said, we successfully dodged a bullet.”
Committee Chairman James Williams Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press said After the game, after reviewing the final play, they should have called a foul on DiVincenzo. But it didn't matter since it wasn't called this time.
Brunson led the Knicks with 35 points and 12 assists in the win, which brought them to 35-23 on the season, tied for fourth in the Eastern Conference. Hart added 23 points and eight rebounds, and DiVincenzo finished with 21 points after shooting 5-of-10 from behind the arc.
Kate Cunningham led the Pistons in the loss with 32 points. Jalen Duran added 11 points and 16 rebounds, and Thompson finished with seven points and four rebounds. The Pistons are just 8-49 this season, the worst record in the league, and they haven't won a game coming out of the All-Star break.
The Pistons face the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.
