NBA acknowledges Game 6 referee error

The referees in Game 6 of the Celtics first round series with the Hawks had the correct interpretation of a foul call against Marquis Daniels late in the fourth quarter, but the NBA said the refs made a mistake by not calling the foul sooner. Had they done so, the Hawks would have been granted a free throw and possession of the ball. The Celtics led 81-79 with 3.1 seconds left at the time of the call. Daniels again fouled Horford on the next play and Horford made only one of his two shots. [Watch the video here]

Here's the explanation from the league:

"During the last two minutes of the fourth period or overtime, if a personal foul is assessed against the defensive team prior to the ball being released on a throw-in, it is considered an Away-From-The-Play Foul and the offensive team is awarded one free throw and possession of the ball. With 3.1 seconds remaining in the the Boston-Atlanta game last night, a foul was called on the Celtics' Marquis Daniels after the Hawks' Marvin Williams had released the ball and therefore the foul was correctly treated as a common foul and not an Away-From-the-Play foul. With that said, however, the replay shows that the foul on Daniels should have been called sooner than it was by the officials, in which case it would have met the requirements of an Away-From-The-Play Foul." 

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