Jaden Ivey had a forgettable moment late on Wednesday night, and it cost the Detroit Pistons in the closing seconds at home against the Chicago Bulls.
The play unfolded with 9.7 seconds left to play and the Pistons down by two points. Ivey was in charge of inbounding the ball, and with seemingly nowhere to throw the ball, the rookie turned to the official to call a timeout to avoid a five-second violation.
However, the Pistons did not have any timeouts left.
The Pistons were whistled for a technical excess timeout foul, which gave the Bulls a free throw. Zach LaVine sank the shot to seal the win. Ivey immediately looked on in disappointment as did Pistons coach Dwane Casey.
He believes Ivey will learn from that moment.
Everybody told him: ‘It wasn’t that play and learn from it.’ He is going to be in a lot of those situations throughout his career. Understand that five seconds is a long time to throw it in. I don’t want to make a lot out of that play; it was (over) way before that.
Jaden Ivey tried to call a timeout before Pistons final possession… but they didn't have any 😅 pic.twitter.com/yH7CEQoEnd
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 2, 2023
Ivey scored 18 points in the 117-115 loss. The Pistons came back from a 21-point deficit late in the third quarter to make things interesting. They managed to tie the game three times in the final 3:04 of regulation but were unable to take the lead.
“The game wasn’t won or lost on that one play,” Casey said. “It was lost in the first quarter. The laissez-faire approach that we had defensively, they got whatever they wanted. … It didn’t come down to that one play. I know it is going to seem like it and everybody is going to say it, (but) it started way before that.”
The error by Ivey was reminiscent of Chris Webber’s infamous play in the 1993 NCAA national championship game with Michigan. Down two in the closing seconds, Webber tried to call a timeout but the Wolverines were out. He was whistled for it, and North Carolina iced the game at the line.
The Pistons have allowed their young guys the opportunity to play through mistakes and, unfortunately, that will be one moment that Ivey will remember for a long time.
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