NBA: Officials Missed Towns' Illegal Screen That Freed Wiggins

The NBA has released its Last Two Minute Report from Sunday’s 115-113 loss to Minnesota and admitted Karl-Anthony Towns got away with an illegal screen on Paul George in the final seconds.

George was taken out by Towns’ wide-set screen that freed Andrew Wiggins to make the 25-foot, buzzer-beating three to give the T-Wolves a victory.

Here is the NBA’s statement on the play:

“While contact is hard, this is a close play in transition. Multiple angles show Towns (MIN) establishes a screening position in George’s (OKC) path before the contact and he absorbs the contact when it occurs. However, his stance is wide and contact occurs to his leg area, which makes the screen illegal.”

Also of note, the league noticed Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau signaling for a timeout after Carmelo Anthony’s go-ahead three. If the crew had seen Thibs’ calling the TO when the Wolves had none left, it would have resulted in a technical foul on the visitors.

“After the made shot, with no timeouts remaining for either team, Coach Thibodeau (MIN) can be seen quickly signaling a timeout behind the back of the slot official and then immediately waving his players up the court. By the time the referee is in a position to notice Thibodeau, he is not signaling a timeout and play moves up the court.”

The Thunder moves on from the loss and faces familiar faces Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis and the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.