Ref Crew Chief Admits Missed Foul, Knicks Top 'Livid' Pistons

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NEW YORK -- After the Knicks escaped with a 113-111 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night -- in large part because of an obvious missed call with 8.5 seconds left when New York guard Donte DiVincenzo plowed into Detroit forward Ausar Thompson -- Pistons coach Monty Williams delivered a tirade over what he deemed a season's worth of mistreatment from the officials.

"The absolute worst call of the season," Williams said a few minutes after the game. He arrived in the media room before any reporters could get there and did not answer any questions after issuing his statement about the game's final sequence. "No call, and enough's enough. We've done it the right way. We've called the league. We've sent in clips. We're sick of hearing the same stuff over and over again.

Referee James Williams, the crew chief, was standing right on top of the play, which occurred during a frenetic closing sequence, and admitted in a pool report after the game that it should have been called a foul.

"Upon postgame review, we determined that Thompson gets to the ball first and then was deprived of the opportunity to gain possession of the ball," James Williams said. "Therefore, a loose ball foul should have been whistled on New York's Donte DiVincenzo."

But it wasn't, and as a result, the Pistons (8-49) found themselves on the short end of a heartbreaking call for a second straight game after believing a travel should have been called on Magic forward Paolo Banchero's winning bucket in Saturday's home loss to Orlando.

The Knicks, meanwhile, were on the other end of an officiating mistake two weeks earlier when a referee admitted to a missed call in the closing seconds of a loss at the Houston Rockets.

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