NBA's last two-minute report disagrees with Rick Carlisle on collision

The NBA disagreed with Pacers coach Rick Carlisle's claim that the collision between All-Star forward Pascal Siakam and Mavericks forward Caleb Martin near the end of Indiana's loss to Dallas was a foul. The league ruled that the contact was incidental. However, the NBA acknowledged a significant mistake made by officials 15 seconds earlier.

The NBA releases reports on calls made in the last two minutes of games when the score is within three points at any point during the last two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime. The Pacers lost 125-122 to the Mavericks, making it the only qualifying game from Monday night. The Pacers had the ball out-of-bounds with 3.7 seconds left, trailing by three.

Siakam tried to catch a pass from Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard, who lobbed it to him. Martin broke on the ball, got a hand on the pass, and both went to the ground. Mavericks guard Walter Clayton Jr. chased the ball, and the clock ran out, securing the Mavericks' win. Carlisle immediately criticized the officiating crew, calling the collision a "football-caliber collision."

The NBA stated that Martin's hand on the ball before the collision made the contact irrelevant. Martin deflected the ball away from Siakam, and the subsequent contact was considered incidental. Only one call in the last two minutes was deemed incorrect, which helped Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving escape a difficult situation with 18 seconds left.

The Pacers drew within one point on an Aaron Nesmith three-pointer with 21 seconds remaining. Nesmith put two hands on Irving, and the whistle blew. The NBA ruled this call incorrect because Nesmith grasped and immediately released Irving's jersey, and the contact was marginal. A foul wouldn't have been ideal for the Pacers, as they needed to either foul or create a turnover since the Mavericks didn't have to shoot the ball.

Irving eventually hit two free throws, and Nesmith missed a three-pointer with 7 seconds left, giving the Pacers a chance to tie the game. However, two missed free throws by P.J. Washington prevented them from scoring at the end. If the foul hadn't been called, the Pacers might have had a chance to steal the ball, commit an 8-second violation, or get a turnover from a less reliable free-throw shooter like Irving, potentially tying or winning the game with a two-pointer on the subsequent possession.