The victory of the Los Angeles Lakers against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday evening presented challenges that were unexpected and difficult.
Despite missing 13 players due to injury, Memphis was severely understaffed and resorted to tanking to end the season. Nevertheless, their two-way players and G League members put up a strong fight against the Lakers. The game was closely contested until LeBron James and his team ultimately secured the win.
Additionally, aside from the intense competition in the game, it seems like the Lakers and Grizzlies spent more time on the court than necessary.
By the end of the third quarter, the Grizzlies missed two consecutive shots that did not hit the rim, leading to a turnover with 1:14 left on the clock. However, the shot clock was incorrectly reset after the second miss.
Referee Scott Wall stopped the play after a third air ball and indicated to the scorer’s table that there was a shot clock violation, resulting in the Lakers getting possession. When the Lakers passed the ball in, the shot clock mysteriously reset to 24 and the game clock was adjusted from 1:14 to 2:20. No one, including the referees and both teams, noticed this error and the game continued as normal after that.
In the 1:06 of additional time, both the Lakers and Grizzlies scored two points each, with Anthony Davis and Jordan Goodwin both making jump shots. Despite the overtime period, it did not appear to provide a significant advantage for either team.
The NBA admitted the following day that an error had been made which went unnoticed by everyone.