NBA confirms missed call in Nuggets-Grizzlies game

The NBA acknowledged Tuesday that officials failed to correctly rule on a call at the end of the Memphis Grizzlies’ 94-92 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night in Denver.

“Upon review at the league office, we have confirmed that a free throw taken by Memphis’ Courtney Lee with 0.7 seconds remaining in the game did not touch the rim,” NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn said. “A violation should have been called with Denver inbounding the ball with 0.7 seconds left on the clock. Since the Nuggets had no timeouts remaining, they would not have been able to advance the ball to the frontcourt.”

The ruling, which is not reviewable under NBA guidelines, on the air-balled free throw by Memphis guard Courtney Lee denied the Nuggets an opportunity for a last-gasp chance to win or tie at the end of regulation.

The Denver Post reported that Nuggets coach Brian Shaw expressed his frustration to the league offices and asked for a public announcement, which came late Tuesday afternoon, regarding the error.

“I got an explanation, I don’t know if I got clarification,” Shaw told the Post.

“We still would have had to go down and make a shot. But at least we would have had an opportunity to do that.”