NBA says no issues with foul on Butler or review

BOSTON — The extensive Last Two Minute Report from the chaotic final moments of the Boston Celtics‘ heart-stopping 104-103 victory over the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night revealed two missed calls — both of which went against Boston — while saying there were no issues with the foul on Jimmy Butler with three seconds remaining.

The report, issued early Sunday evening, said officials missed two things among the 32 the league reviewed from the final 120 seconds of action: a lane violation by Heat forward Caleb Martin on a free throw Jaylen Brown missed with 1:01 remaining in the fourth quarter, and a foul on Jayson Tatum by Heat guard Gabe Vincent on a drive to the basket with 33.5 seconds left. That play eventually ended with Tatum being blocked by Bam Adebayo and Miami getting the ball back.

Ultimately, though, there were no issues with the foul call against Al Horford on Butler’s 3-point attempt with three seconds remaining — the play at the center of much of the discussion in the aftermath of Boston’s win.

Originally, referee Josh Tiven called the foul on Horford with 2.1 seconds remaining and ruled it a two-shot foul. In that situation, the league automatically would have reviewed the play to see whether it was going to be a two- or three-shot foul.

But because Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla challenged the call, the NBA had the ability to look at the entire play, according to Monty McCutchen, the league’s senior vice president, head of referee development and training. The league saw that one of Horford’s arms came across Butler’s arms and fouled him with three seconds to go, thus adding nine-tenths of a second to the clock.

Boston needed every bit of that time as after Butler hit all three free throws to give Miami a one-point lead, Derrick White‘s putback of Marcus Smart‘s potential game-winning jumper was released with just a tenth of a second on the clock. The basket gave the Celtics a stunning win and forced the series to a seventh game in Boston on Memorial Day.

The other debate about the Butler play was over whether he double dribbled after losing the ball. The report said he did not, explaining that Butler “fumbles the ball out of his control when he ends his dribble, then recovers it and legally attempts a field goal.”