Lakers, Grizzlies Accidentally Played 13-Minute Third Quarter Because Nobody Caught Odd Clock Error

Tom Dierberger | Apr 13, 2024

Los Angeles forward LeBron James reacts after a play in the Lakers' 123-120 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

A game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies on Friday at FedExForum mistakenly went one minute and six seconds too long.

And no officials, players or coaches noticed the error.

The Grizzlies were whistled for a shot clock violation with 1:14 to play in the third quarter. Instead of the shot clock buzzer going off, the scoreboard operators accidentally reset the shot clock to 24 seconds in the closing seconds of Memphis' possession. The referees noticed and stopped play.

But when the shot clock was reset again to 24 seconds for the Lakers' ensuing possession, the game clock suddenly jumped from 1:14 to 2:20. And play resumed like nothing happened.

Here's the evidence:

Just realized the Lakers and Grizzlies played 13:06 minutes in the 3rd quarter last night. When the shot clock was supposed to be reset at 1:14, the game clock was also accidentally reset to 2:20. No one noticed and they played the rest of the way with the new game clock. pic.twitter.com/oeEE0F7f3C

— Ramiro Bentes (@NbaInRstats) April 13, 2024

Neither the Grizzlies' broadcast on Bally Sports Southwest or the Lakers' telecast on Spectrum SportsNet mentioned the clock error.

Not much happened the rest of the quarter, as the Lakers outscored the Grizzlies 4–2 in the final 2:20 played.

The Lakers went on to beat Memphis 123–120, jumping ahead of the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings in the race for the Western Conference's No. 8 seed.

The NBA has not addressed the clock error as of 4 p.m. ET Saturday.

What a weird, wild situation.