A controversial call at the end of the first half of Game 1 of the Brooklyn Nets vs. Milwaukee Bucks Eastern Conference semifinal series resulted in a bad beat for some bettors.
The first-half spread was Nets -2 over at BetMGM. And if you put money on the Nets covering the two points going into halftime, you were sitting pretty when they took an 11-point lead with 3:22 left in the second quarter.
The lead for Brooklyn was eight points, 61-53, at the 1:57 mark and then seven points, 63-56, with 44.4 seconds remaining in the half. The Bucks, though, closed out the half with five straight points to cut the Nets’ lead to just 63-61 at halftime.
That’s a push for Nets bettors. That’s not the worst outcome in the world, but when you see how it happened, you’ll know why it stings.
The Nets led 63-58 in the final seconds of the half when the Bucks recovered the ball off a Brooklyn turnover. With the clock ticking down, Giannis Antetokounmpo passed the ball upcourt to big man Robin Lopez. With two defenders closing, Lopez pump-faked a few times and put in a lay-up.
Lopez’s layup went in after time expired. However, a foul was called. The call was reviewed and it was determined that the foul occurred with 0.1 seconds on the clock. Once the foul occurs, the clock stops. Because the clock immediately stopped, the basket counted.
Lopez then sunk the free throw for a three-point play to make the halftime score 63-61.
That’s a brutal turn of events for Nets bettors.
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