Refs Ruin Pacers Last Chance To Defeat Bulls

The referees made a critical mistake in the closing seconds to ruin the Indiana Pacers chances to defeat their division rival Chicago Bulls.

Indianapolis, IN – The Indiana Pacers made a huge comeback in the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls tonight, but came up just short by the final score of 92-90. At the end of the game in the closing seconds, the referees made a critical error by not recognizing Frank Vogel’s pleas for a timeout in an obvious timeout situation.

It was an absolute embarrassment for the NBA and the referees, and it completely changed the outcome of the game. Instead of having 1.8 seconds on the clock with a chance to win the game, the Pacers only had 0.5 seconds left. C.J. Watson had a wide open look in the corner, but had to rush his shot due to the referees’ blunder.

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That is the exact type of call that completely ruins the game for fans who spend their time and passion watching a team. It is unacceptable for three referees to not see or hear a coach screaming for a timeout with two seconds left when they’re down by two points.

Chris Copeland came off of the bench to spark the comeback, and ended up leading the Pacers in scoring with 17 points. He shot 7-10 from the floor, and also grabbed five rebounds. Both C.J. Miles and George Hill scored 11 points each, while Luis Scola, Solomon Hill, and David West all scored 10 points each.

Lavoy Allen had a nice game as well for Indiana with six points, eight rebounds, and four blocks.

Chicago was led by a monster performance from Jimmy Butler, who scored 27 points on 8-20 shooting. He made nine of his 12 free-throw attempts as well, and made some key plays down the stretch. Pau Gasol also played a nice game, scoring 20 points to go along with six rebounds. Derrick Rose was the only other double digit scorer for the Bulls with 17 points, and also dished out six assists.

Needless to say, this was by far the most disappointing game of the season. After that type of a comeback to have the game fumbled away by the referees was crushing to all Pacers fans. Indiana fell to 11-21 on the season with the loss, and will now look ahead to their next game on Wednesday afternoon against the Miami Heat at 3 PM.