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Spurs had six on floor in Game 6
Alan is an expert gambling writer who works as one of the chief editors for Basketball Insiders. He has been covering online gambling and sports betting for over 8 years, having written for the likes of Sportlens, Compare.bet, The Sports Daily, 90min, and TopRatedCasinos.co.uk. His particular specialisms include US online casinos and gambling regulations, and soccer and basketball betting. Based in London, Alan holds an MA in English Literature and is a passionate supporter of Chelsea FC.
All posts by Alan DraperUpdated10 hours ago on April 24, 2024
The NBA acknowledged that the referees missed the San Antonio Spurs having six players on the floor in the final seconds during Game 6 of the Western Conference quarterfinal series against the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.
NBA spokesman Tim Frank confirmed the officials’ oversight in an email to ESPN on Saturday.
The Mavericks led 113-111 with 1.3 seconds left in Dallas when the Spurs, with no timeouts, inbounded the ball underneath the basket. On the floor were five Spurs players — Manu Ginobili, Patty Mills, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan — in addition to inbounder Boris Diaw.
Diaw’s length-of-the-court pass was knocked out of bounds with 0.4 of a second left. The Spurs retained possession but could not get off a final shot.
According to league rules, “If the ball is put into play and remains in play with one team having six or more players on the court, a non-unsportsmanlike technical foul will be assessed on the team with too many players.”
No technical was called by officials James Capers, Jason Phillips and Zach Zarba and the mistake did not impact the outcome of the game, which was won by the Mavericks.
“Some guy just didn’t walk off the court, that’s all,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
