Bucks' Doc Rivers Rips Into Refs For 'Blown Call' That Decided Loss to Hornets

Jeremy Hanna | Nov 16, 2024

Nov 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers reacts during the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks barely lost to the Charlotte Hornets in a nail biter of a game.

Hornets guard LaMelo Ball drove toward the basket against two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Despite Ball seemingly tripping over his own feet, a foul was called against Antetokounmpo and the Bucks were out of challenges

This resulted in two made free throws and a narrow 115-114 victory for Charlotte.

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Naturally, fans and personnel on the Milwaukee side of things are upset, including Bucks head coach Doc Rivers.

"I thought the final play was the ref blowing a call," Rivers said, per ESPN. "This is back-to-back games now where on the final play there has been an incorrect call made."

The last time this happened was when the Bucks faced the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, Nov. 13. In the last second of the game, the refs made another phantom call when the score was tied at 111 each.

Fortunately for Milwaukee, Pistons forward Ron Holland II missed both of his free throws and the game went into overtime, leading to a Bucks victory.

Still, Rivers thinks that it is not ok for the NBA refs to keep making these mistakes.

"LaMelo Ball fell," Rivers said. "He just fell down. Nobody was near him. He slipped on his own. We come up with the ball and the game is over. So back-to-back games now we have had a call made against us that is incorrect. We were lucky in Detroit the kid missed two free throws. Tonight LaMelo Ball made the free throws."

What makes this situation even more frustrating is that the referee later admitted that he made a mistake.

"During live play we called illegal leg to leg to contact," referee Curtis Blair said in an NBA Pool Report after the game. "During postgame review when we looked at the play there was no illegal contact on the play."

This now puts the Bucks at a dangerous 4-9 record, keeping them in 12th place in the Eastern Conference behind the 5-8 Chicago Bulls and ahead of the 2-9 Washington Wizards. Meanwhile, the Hornets are in eighth with a 5-7 record.

Needless to say, this makes the road to the playoffs even more difficult for Milwaukee. Hopefully, there luck will be able to turn around in time for Monday's game against the Houston Rockets.

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