NBA crew chief David Guthrie said Sunday that Josh Hart should've been called for a foul on Detroit Pistons guard Tim Hardaway Jr. on his last-second 3-point attempt during the New York Knicks' 94-93 Game 4 victory.
"During live play, it was judged that Josh Hart made a legal defensive play. After (the) postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr., and a foul should have been called," Guthrie said postgame.
Hardaway would've been awarded three free throws with the Pistons down one and less than two seconds left. Instead, Detroit is now down 3-1 in the first-round series.
The ball ended up in Hardaway's hands after Pistons guard Cade Cunningham missed a jumper with seven seconds remaining. Both teams battled for the ensuing rebound, with the ball slipping out of Mikal Bridges' hands and rolling to Hardaway. Hart then made contact with the Pistons veteran as he went to contest Hardaway's shot.
🚨CLOSE UP ANGLE 🚨
— Underdog (@Underdog) April 27, 2025
Was this a foul on Josh Hart or clean? 😬pic.twitter.com/DeM0ZzGzLh
Hart also admitted he made contact with Hardaway.
"Did I make contact with him? Yeah, I made contact with him," Hart said, per Fred Katz of The Athletic. "Was it legal? I don't know! We'll see in the last-two-minute report."
Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff believes Hardaway should've been shooting free throws.
"The guy leaves his feet, and there's contact on Tim Hardaway's jump shot," Bickerstaff said, according to team reporter Keith Langlois. "I don't know any way around it. The guy leaves his feet, he's at Timmy's mercy, and I'll repeat - there's contact on his jump shot."
Detroit took an 11-point lead with 8:35 left in the contest. New York then outscored the Pistons 26-14 to end the contest.
The Knicks can reach the Eastern Conference semifinals with a victory Tuesday.
