The NBA confirmed that the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies played an extra 66 seconds in the third quarter due to a clock error.
“We have confirmed that the game clock was inaccurately set in the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers-Memphis Grizzlies game last night at FedEx Forum,” a league spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday. “After a shot clock violation, the clock was set at 2:20 when it should have been at 1:14. The error was not noticed in real time by the teams, the referees, the game clock operator or the stats crew. While unfortunate, the effort was not identified in time to resolve the situation in-game.”
The Grizzlies would outscore the Lakers 33-30 in the third quarter, but fell after the final buzzer, 123-120.
Officials discovered that after a pair of air balls by the Grizzlies, the shot clock was mistakenly reset with 1:14 remaining in the quarter. A third attempt, by Memphis guard Timmy Allen, was also an air ball and play was whistled dead and referee Scott Wall signaled a shot clock violation and possession would go to the Lakers.
Allen’s shot came after the shot clock should have already expired and did not count. When the Lakers took possession and inbounded the ball, the shot clock reset to 24 seconds but the game clocked went from 1:14 remaining in the quarter to 2:20 to play.
Over that extra 66 seconds of game time, each team scored two points and the Lakers led 98-87 at the end of the third quarter.
The error was caught by Twitter user Ramiro Bentes on Saturday morning. Hours later, the NBA released a statement acknowledging the mistake.
Just realized the Lakers and Grizzlies played 13:06 minutes in the 3rd quarter last night. When the shot clock was supposed to be reset at 1:14, the game clock was also accidentally reset to 2:20. No one noticed and they played the rest of the way with the new game clock. pic.twitter.com/oeEE0F7f3C
— Ramiro Bentes (@NbaInRstats) April 13, 2024
The Grizzlies have been out of the playoff hunt for some time now, but the win was important for the Lakers. They’re now 46-35 with one game to play in the regular season and this could help them earn the No. 8 seed for next week’s NBA play-in tournament.
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