On April 30, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced the referee report of pelicans vs Sun G6. According to the referee's report, in the last 2 minutes of the game, the referee had a total of 2 wrongful decisions, and the Suns and Pelicans each won once.
With 1 minute and 02 seconds left in the first misjudgement, Paul made physical contact with Alvarado during the breakout because Paul elbowed Alvarado on the head and should have blown Paul's offensive foul. But the referee blew off Alvarado's defensive foul.
The second misjudgment occurred with 5.6 seconds left in the game, when the two teams were scrambling for rebounds, causing the ball to go out of bounds. The U.S. gave the ball to the Pelicans. But the reality is that Nance Jr. is the last player to touch the ball, and that ball should go to the Suns.
The release of the referee's report has aroused heated discussion among fans. Although it seems that there were 2 misjudgments, each team profited once. But the first misjudgment occurred during the crucial round of the match, which to some extent affected the direction and outcome of the game. Another misjudgment occurred when the game had already been decided.
Wrong judgments and missed judgments are part of the game and are normal. What caused heated discussion was the abnormal behavior of the referee when it was wrongly decided for the first time. Paul's elbow blow had already had serious consequences, and according to post-match news, Alvarado's teeth were broken. At that time, Alvarado also opened his lips to show the referee, and the blood could be seen through the live camera. It is reasonable to say that in such a situation, the referee will usually take the initiative to look back and then make the correct decision. But the referee rejected Alvarado's request to look back at the time. This behavior is a bit abnormal.
Paul played quite perfectly in this game, scoring 33 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists on 14-of-14 shooting to lead the team to victory, setting several new NBA records. But the referee's misjudgment, and his refusal to look back in the face of Alvarado's bleeding tooth, made Paul's perfect night seem a little imperfect.
Without this elbow strike, it would have been a perfect night for Paul. With this elbow strike, with this wrong judgement, this elbow strike will forever be tied to Paul's perfect performance of 14 of 14.