‘Don’t show Darko’: NBA admits it missed two calls in final minutes of Raptors game. Both hurt the Lakers

The league’s ‘last two-minute report’ showed the refs actually missed two fouls on the Raptors.

Lakers forward LeBron James, left, shoots against Raptors forward Scottie Barnes during the second half on Jan. 9, 2024 in Los Angeles. Ashley Landis / AP Photo

After Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic’s outburst against the officiating in Tuesday’s one-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, fans eagerly waited for the NBA’s last two-minute report.

The league releases its findings every day of its review of every call in the last two minutes of a close game in a bid to show transparency.

But this report wasn’t what Raptors fans expected after the referees awarded 23 free throws to the Lakers and only two for Toronto in the fourth quarter.

Instead of showing a dramatic reversal, the report instead found only two incorrect calls in the final two minutes — both of which went in the Raptors’ favour.

The NBA determined it incorrectly failed to call an offensive foul on Scottie Barnes with 1:33 left on the clock, when he moved into Laker Austin Reaves’s path without establishing himself in screening position.

The referees also missed a personal foul on RJ Barrett with 1:18 left on the clock, when he hit Los Angeles’s Anthony Davis in the wrist, causing him to lose control of the ball, the report found.

One call that had fans in particular up in arms, a moving screen foul committed by Raptors’ RJ Barrett on Davis that wiped out a three-point basket by Scottie Barnes that would have tied the game with 25 seconds left, was deemed a correct call. Davis was accused by fans of flopping but the report didn’t agree.