On May 11, the 2024-25 NBA playoffs Western Conference semifinals were in full swing. In the third game of the Thunder vs. Nuggets series, the two teams fought until overtime to decide the winner. The game was intense and controversial. Today, the NBA officially released the referee report for the last two minutes of the game. The report showed that there was only one missed call in this game, but this penalty error really made the Denver Nuggets suffer.

According to the referee report, this was the only missed call that occurred at a critical moment with 57.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was holding the ball for a layup during an inside attack, but was interfered with by Thunder center Harten. Slow motion showed that Harten clearly hit Jokic's wrist during the defense, interfering with his shooting action. According to the rules, this should be called as a shooting foul, and Jokic should have been given two free throws.

However, the referee on duty did not make any whistle and the game continued. Jokic expressed strong dissatisfaction on the spot and once complained to the referee that " hit his hand " , but the referee ignored him and directly let the game go. At this time, the score on the field was 99-102 behind the Thunder. If they had received free throws and made all of them, the Nuggets would have had a chance to catch up to 1 point, and even change the trend of the game.

It is worth mentioning that although the Nuggets subsequently dragged the game into overtime with Gordon's key three-pointer, judging from the trend of the game, the missed call undoubtedly had a huge psychological and rhythmic impact on the Nuggets. Since the NBA referee report only evaluates the key calls in the last two minutes of regular time, the overtime stage is not included in this scope, so other possible disputes were not recorded.

Overall, the quality of refereeing in this game was controllable, with only one missed call, which was considered " the flaws outweigh the merits " . However, the only mistake affected the outcome of the game, which made the Nuggets feel extremely helpless.

As the series enters a white-hot stage, the fairness and accuracy of refereeing will become more critical. Especially in the playoffs, where every inch of land is fought for, even a missed call may become the fuse that determines the outcome.