NBA's Last Two Minute Report validates DeRozan's beef originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
DeMar DeRozan was right.
And the Bulls found themselves on the wrong side of yet another Last Two Minute Report from the NBA.
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In the direct aftermath of Tuesday's home loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, DeRozan owned his career-high eight turnovers but emphatically stated---as he did in real time to game officials---that Reggie Jackson fouled him on a drive with just under 40 seconds to play and the Chicago Bulls trailing by one.
“I got fouled. What went wrong is they didn’t call it. Simple as that. It’s frustrating being in that situation,” DeRozan said then. “I didn’t want to settle for a jumpshot. As soon as I spun, his arm was reaching in and I couldn’t fully spin. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Try to be aggressive. Try to get downhill. Clearly it was a foul. It just sucks that you wake up (Wednesday) and read the Last Two Minute report and something else will be missed that possibly could’ve cost us the game."
The NBA actually released its Last Two Minute Report for Tuesday's games closer to 3 pm Central, so it's a safe bet DeRozan was long awake. But he was right.
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Jackson (LAC) reaches in and makes contact to DeRozan's (CHI) left arm and affects his driving shot attempt
That was the official phrasing from the league, which also has acknowledged high-profile missed calls late in Bulls' losses vs. the Wizards once and Cavaliers twice. In both the Wizards and first Cavaliers instances, both times the league acknowledged missed calls on DeRozan's game-winning shot attempts.
This time, the missed call wasn't on a game-winning shot attempt since the foul should've been called with 38.7 seconds left. But DeRozan, who had to be restrained by teammates following the no-call because he kept arguing so vehemently with officials, is an 88.6 percent free-throw shooter this season. Had he traveled to the line, where he went 4-for-6 versus the Clippers, who knows how the final 38.7 seconds would've played out?
Of course, the Bulls had multiple other opportunities, including Zach LaVine missing two of three free throws with 63 seconds left after getting fouled on a 3-pointer.
The only other missed call on the Last Two Minute Report came when the NBA said Alex Caruso should've been whistled for a 5-second violation on an inbounds play that resulted in a turnover anyway. It's the second time in eight days that the Bulls have failed to execute an inbounds play at a crucial time.
No officials can help them with that.
