Refs Admit 2 Blown Calls on Brandon Ingram, Pelicans in Final Seconds of Loss vs Mavs

NBA referee Kevin Scott admitted two mistakes late in the fourth quarter of the New Orleans Pelicans' 111-106 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night.

In the pool report after the game, Scott told The Athletic's Tim Cato that Brandon Ingram was incorrectly ruled out of bounds when he made contact with the ball on an inbounds pass from Josh Green.

"After postgame media review, Ingram was not out of bounds while making contact with the ball," Scott said.

Larry Nance Jr. grabbed the ball when it was deflected and the clock started running, going from 4.9 seconds to 3.4 seconds. Scott noted the clock should not have run because one of the officials ruled Ingram was out of bounds when he touched the ball.

Dallas was leading 109-106 at the time of the missed calls. Herb Jones committed a take foul in an attempt to give the Pelicans a chance to tie the score, but Spencer Dinwiddie made both of his free-throw attempts to seal the Mavs' victory.

Pelicans players were upset that they didn't get the chance to decide the game because of the officials' mistakes.

"The players should've decided the game and they didn't," Nance said to reporters. "The clock was wrong and the call was wrong. ... I just hope we get the same calls at home. That'd be lovely."

CJ McCollum said the refs "missed the call" and their in-game explanation that Ingram was out of bounds when he deflected the ball wasn't possible because he was in the air when it happened.

"He deflected the ball, and we had the ball and possession," McCollum explained. "I had a great look [at a shot], you know what I'm saying? It's a make-or-miss league. We shouldn't have been down 30 but that play definitely impacted the end of the game."

This has been a notable week for NBA officials, though not one they want to remember. They felt compelled to send out a statement on Twitter after missing a foul call on LeBron James in the Los Angeles Lakers' loss to the Boston Celtics on Jan. 28.

Nance even mocked that tweet after the Pelicans' loss, posting a clip of the missed call with the line, "This play will weigh heavily and cause sleepless nights."

The Pelicans put themselves in a position where they needed to come back in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 31 points in the first half. They outscored Dallas 63-41 in the second half to make the final score much closer than it seemed like it was going to be.

This result could have some ramifications on the playoff race in the Western Conference by the time the regular season ends. The Mavs moved into fourth place with a 28-25 record. The Pelicans have now lost 10 straight games and are clinging to the No. 10 seed at 26-27.