Bones Hyland questions NBA officiating for letting Jalen Brunson get free throws: "That's an offensive foul"
Questioning the officiating of a Jalen Brunson play during Game 6 of the first-round playoff series between the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers, LA Clippers guard Bones Hyland took to X (formerly Twitter), to share his opinion.
A foul was called on the defense guarding Brunson, which many highlighted as Brunson drawing a 'manipulated' foul. Hyland highlighted that the NBA had supposedly taken measures to tackle the drawing of such fouls and that it should have been called as an offensive foul on Brunson instead.
"I thought they took that move out of the league ??? that’s a offensive foul 😂😂," Hyland tweeted.
According to the rule change adopted by the NBA at the start of the 2021-22 season, an offensive foul is called when a player gets a defender in the air with a pump fake. If the player then launches himself into the defender to draw a foul in an unnatural motion, it is considered an offensive foul.
Jalen Brunson can be seen abruptly stopping to take a jump shot while Nico Batum takes a stance behind him. During the maneuver, Batum bumped Brunson from behind while the Knicks star was in the air which led the NBA officials to call a defensive foul on Batum resulting in two free throws for Brunson.
Jalen Brunson records three straight 40+ point games in the playoffs
The New York Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 118-115 in Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs to clinch the series with a 4-2 record.
Brunson recorded 41 points, three rebounds, and 12 assists in the match to record his third straight 40+ point game in the playoffs. He dropped 47 points in Game 4 and 40 points in Game 5 prior to his Game 6 performance. All in all, the All-Star point guard averaged a stellar 35.5 points in the first-round series against the 76ers.
With the series win, the Knicks advance to the Eastern Conference semi-finals for the second consecutive season. The franchise has not achieved this feat since 2000, when the Knicks advanced to the conference semi-finals for the ninth consecutive season.
For the Eastern Conference semi-finals, the Knicks will face the Indiana Pacers, who defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 4-2 in the first-round playoff series. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for May 6 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.