Sports

J.B. Bickerstaff Says the Refs Missed a Clear Foul in Crunch Time, and He's Right to Be Angry

By Blake Silverman Sports Illustrated

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff was upset with the officiating after Detroit dropped Game 4 in Cleveland, and he found himself in the same boat one game later.

The Cavaliers stole Game 5 in Detroit with a 117–113 overtime win to mark Cleveland's first win on the road thus far in the playoffs. The Pistons led Wednesday's game by as many as 15 points at one point and were up by nine with just three minutes left in regulation, but the Cavs locked in on Detroit's star Cade Cunningham and flipped the script for a statement win.

Cleveland had an opportunity to win the game in regulation with the ball in Donovan Mitchell's hands and the shot clock turned off. Ausar Thompson poked the ball away from Mitchell as he drove and chased it out of bounds, but was tripped up by Jarrett Allen as the ball sailed out of bounds and time expired with no whistle.

You never want to see a game decided on the free-throw line, but Cleveland's dominance in overtime makes the no-call a point of contention for Detroit, as it now faces elimination in Game 6 on the road. Bickerstaff made his thoughts clear about the free-throw discrepancy his team fought against in Game 4 and he did the same on the controversial no call after Wednesday's loss.

"[Allen] fouled Ausar," Bickerstaff said postgame via Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. "It's clear. He trips him when he's going for a loose ball. End of game situation, that's tough."

Now, Thompson is anything but a knockdown free-throw shooter, so it's no guarantee Game 5 would've turned into a Pistons win if the whistle was blown. But, Detroit certainly would've had a better shot to emerge victorious considering how Cleveland adjusted its defense to target Cunningham and his supporting cast wasn't able to knock down shots.

Looking at the replays, it's pretty clearly a foul that gets called in any situation that isn't the final seconds of regulation

Based on the NBA's rule book, a personal foul is called when a player impedes the progress of an opponent by extending a hand, arm, leg or knee or by bending the body into a position that is not normal. Contact that results in the re-routing of an opponent is a foul which must be called immediately.

Allen and Thompson were both going for the ball, but Thompson had him beat and their feet got tied up, which resulted in an impedement of Thompson's progress toward the loose ball. Although not intentional, the play fits the definition for a whistle, it's just incredibly tough to make that call in that spot.

If the same play happened a minute earlier or if the score was any different, we probably would have heard a whistle. However, nobody wants to see any game-and especially such a consequential one-decided at the foul line. It's tough to swallow for Detroit as it now has to get a win on the road to save its season, especially as the play looked like a clear foul with little time left on the clock.

"I think it's pretty clear it was a foul," Cunningham said postgame. "He has the ball in his possession and he's running forward and gets tripped up. It's a foul, it's been a foul the whole rest of the game. Close game, nobody wants to make that call I guess. Everybody wants to allow the game to sort itself out I guess, nobody wants to interfere with it when it should have been a foul."

The difference between a 3–2 lead and a 3–2 deficit in the series was that slim.

No matter how frustrating, one missed call can't excuse the late-game collapse the Pistons suffered

While the no-call was a tough break for Detroit, let's make one thing clear: the Pistons weren't robbed.

They had plenty of opportunities to ice the game and take back the lead in the series, but they slipped up down the stretch and didn't have enough in overtime. Detroit was up by nine with three minutes left after Tobias Harris knocked down a big three-pointer. Unfortunately for the Pistons, they didn't score again in regulation and fell flat in overtime.

Cleveland's defense targeted Cunningham even more than usual to close the game. The Cavs' defenders blitzed Cunningham and made it difficult for him to make anything happen. His teammates needed to beat Cleveland and they simply couldn't.

Duncan Robinson was out for Game 5 and his floor spacing ability was sorely missed, as it would have made Cunningham's life a bit easier down the stretch. Harris wasn't able to make shots in overtime and Daniss Jenkins, who started in place of Robinson, cooled off after a hot start to the game. Paul Reed entered the game for the first time in the fourth quarter and he proved to be the Pistons' primary source of offense in overtime. His late minutes were huge, but that's no bueno. Jalen Duren has struggled all postseason and saw more of the same in Game 5. He finished with nine points on just five shots and was a complete non-factor in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Then came the mistakes. Max Strus forced Cunningham into a careless turnover in overtime which gave Cleveland an easy bucket and opened up the Cavs' lead to seven. The straw that broke the camel's back was when James Harden was able to rebound his own miss off a free throw with a three-point lead and 24.4 seconds left in overtime. Detroit didn't fill the lane and Harden was able to go back to the line to increase Cleveland's lead to two possessions.

Those mistakes add up and now force the Pistons to play for their season Friday in Cleveland during Game 6.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as J.B. Bickerstaff Says the Refs Missed a Clear Foul in Crunch Time, and He's Right to Be Angry.

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This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 12:13 AM.

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