The New York Knicks have the chance to eliminate the Detroit Pistons and move on to the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs on Tuesday night. But the controversy surrounding the ending of Game 4 has yet to fade.
The Knicks won, 94-93, on Sunday and were the beneficiary of a bad no-call in the final moments of the win. Pistons guard Tim Hardaway Jr. attempted a three-pointer with seconds left in the game and was fouled by Knicks' Josh Hart in the process. However, the referees didn't blow the whistle in the moment; Hardaway missed his shot and the Knicks won. Afterwards, the officials acknowledged they made a mistake and Hart should have been called for the foul, which would have sent Hardaway to the line with a chance to tie and win the game.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau (who expressed his own frustration with the officiating earlier in the series) was asked about the error ahead of Tuesday's Game 5 and offered a typically blunt response: he does not care.
"I don't put much stock in any of that," the head coach said. "A lot of it is just judgement... Quite frankly, I really don't care. As long as it's called consistently, whether we're gonna call it tight, we're gonna call it loose, it's got to be the same for both teams. That's all I concern myself with."
Tom Thibodeau was asked about the NBA saying that Tim Hardaway Jr. was fouled on the last play of Game 4:
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 29, 2025
"Quite frankly, I really don't care. As long as it's called consistently, whether we're gonna call it tight, we're gonna call it loose, it's gotta the same for both teams." pic.twitter.com/LzGxxubmbR
About what you'd expect from Thibs, and really what more can he say? The Knicks got away with one at the end of a very physical game that did not involve many foul calls. There's not much they or the Pistons can do except move onto the next game.
There will be a lot of attention paid to the calls from the referees in a potentially decisive Game 5. That much is certain.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tom Thibodeau Had Blunt Response to Refs Messing Up Ending of Knicks-Pistons Game 4.
