NBA officials might need the All-Star break more than injury-ridden teams like the New York Knicks. After incorrectly calling a foul call on Jalen Brunson with less than a second left in regulation that sent Aaron Holiday to the charity stripe for game-winning free throws, Jacyn Goble screwed Alex Caruso and the Bulls over in Cleveland.
Ed Malloy, the crew chief in the Knicks-Rockets game, admitted shortly after the final buzzer that Goble made the wrong call. He said the contact was "incidental" and "should not have been called." The game should've gone to overtime tied at 103. On Tuesday, New York filed a protest to dispute the loss.
Two days after his big mistake, Goble decided again that fans packed inside of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse were there for him rather than there to see the Cavaliers and Bulls play. With less than a minute left to play in the fourth quarter, with the game tied at 103 (how ironic) and Cleveland inbounding the ball, Goble whistled Alex Caruso for a "foul" on Donovan Mitchell.
Caruso was fired up and tried to explain that Mitchell pushed off of him, but it didn't matter. Mitchell went to the line and hit one free throw, and the Cavaliers were then given possession of the ball.
Goble is a joke. Calls an away from the play foul to give CLE an FT and possession with a full 24 in a tie game.
— ShwinnyPooh, national championship enjoyer (@shwinnypooh) February 15, 2024
Made one of the worst calls I've ever seen on Monday, NBA admits it, then has him do a national game 2 days later and he calls this. No accountability for these guys. pic.twitter.com/yKJ9gkv3uj
NBA desperately needs to hold officials like Jacyn Goble accountable
Isaac Okoro missed a three-pointer, and Coby White secured the defensive rebound. He then turned the ball over with 17 seconds left, so it's not as if Chicago didn't have a shot to win the game. New York wasn't given another chance. However, in a tight game like that, Goble can't commit costly mistakes.
Who knows what would've happened if Goble hadn't whistled Caruso for a foul that wasn't a foul? If anything, it should've been an offensive foul on Mitchell, which easily could've changed the game's trajectory. At the very least, Goble should've swallowed his whistle for the no-call.
The Bulls sit in Play-In Tournament range in the East at No. 9, and it would've been massive for them to upset the No. 2 team in the conference on the road. Goble helped to take that chance away from them.
Let's not forget that Goble is the same official who didn't call what was a blatant foul on Jayson Tatum last season after he smacked LeBron James' hand as he went up for a lay-up in the final seconds of a tied game. Rather than have LeBron go to the line for two free throws, the game went into overtime. The Lakers went on to lose, 125-121.
Jacyn Goble was the official who made the game-ending foul call of Jalen Brunson tonight.
— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) February 13, 2024
He is the same baseline official who missed this blatant foul on LeBron in Boston last season. pic.twitter.com/8N7XehegYX
Officials are human, and they're going to make mistakes. There seems to be a trend with Goble, though. It would've been huge for the Knicks-Rockets game to go into overtime, considering New York has been on a skid because of injuries. The Knicks were penalized for Goble's mistake, while he went on to be an official for a nationally televised game. Make it make sense!