Tyler Herro lifted the Heat to a 110-107 victory over the Kings on Wednesday night by hitting a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left in regulation, but Sacramento coach Mike Brown believes the shot shouldn’t have counted.
With the clock ticking down under 10 seconds, Herro came off a Gabe Vincent screen and isolated against Terence Davis at the top of the key. Davis played solid defense against Herro, getting a hand up on his initial gather, but Herro adjusted to make a difficult shot.
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On the ensuing play, Domantas Sabonis attempted to tie the game off a deep pass from Matthew Dellavedova, but he was whistled for an offensive foul as time expired.
Tyler Herro hits the GAME-WINNER for the @MiamiHEAT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VJUGbbVz5Z
— NBA (@NBA) November 3, 2022
During his postgame media availability, Kings coach Mike Brown claimed that Herro traveled before he released the game-winner. Replays appeared to show Herro shuffling his feet in order to find a better launch angle.
No, he just traveled to get an open look. pic.twitter.com/hBvOKikBoU
— 2006 til Infinity (@HereWeKangz) November 3, 2022
“He traveled on the last play, and I would not be doing my job if I didn’t come up here and protect my guys,” Brown said. “My guys fought their behind off for close to 48 minutes, and to [see Herro] pump fake, then sidestep or hop, and then one-two and a shot, and not make that call, to me, it’s just unbelievable.”
The officiating crew said that Herro didn’t travel on the play, according to Brown. He added that Sacramento didn’t receive a “fair whistle” against Miami, pointing to what he felt was another missed call on a Harrison Barnes drive.
“I kept telling the officials, they’re all great guys and they’re good officials, but at the end of the day, we have to go earn our respect because, right now, people get caught up in the hype and the excitement of the crowd,” Brown said. “And they look at what’s on our jersey, I’m assuming, and see Kings, and maybe expect us to lose.
“I don’t know, but it’s just two, like, blatant calls that were right in front of guys, and I just feel bad for my players.”
Mike Brown is NOT HAPPY with the officiating in tonight’s game.
He believes Tyler Herro traveled on the game-winning shot 😬 pic.twitter.com/c9IzO5ucug
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 3, 2022
The Kings will look to shake off the controversial loss as they travel to Orlando for Saturday’s game against the Magic.
