Nick Nurse was frustrated.
He even checked the game footage to make sure it was warranted, too.
But the 76ers coach claimed in his postgame press conference — after the Knicks stunned the 76ers with a miraculous 27-second sequence where they hit a 3-pointer, stole a pass and hit another 3 to win Game 2 — that he tried to call a timeout twice, and on both occasions.
He alleged, the referee ignored him.
“We take a look at getting it in quick,” Nurse told reporters after the Knicks’ 104-101 win Monday at the Garden. “We don’t get it in quick. I call timeout. Referee looked right at me. Ignored me. Went into Tyrese [Maxey]. I called timeout again, and then the melee started.
“Yeah, I mean, I guess I gotta run out onto the floor or do something to make sure and get his attention. Needed a timeout there to advance it. Would’ve been good. But couldn’t get it.”
ESPN reported after the game that the 76ers “plan to file a grievance with the NBA over the officiating across the first two games of this series.”
Everything started when Jalen Brunson hit a 3-pointer with 27 seconds remaining, a shot where the ball hit the rim, bounced into the air and — somehow — went into the basket.
Then, the 76ers’ inbounds pass was knocked into the air, and after Maxey fell to the ground with possession, Josh Hart managed to steal it away.
“I just watched the film just to make sure,” Nurse said. “I’m clearly calling timeout. I didn’t see if he looked at me in the film, but I could see me clearly calling timeout twice.”
So after the referee let play continue and Maxey couldn’t maintain possession, Donte DiVincenzo was left open for a 3-pointer.
He missed the shot, though the Knicks maintained possession and generated another chance with an Isaiah Hartenstein rebound, a quick pass to OG Anuoby and another back to DiVincenzo near the top of the key.
This time, DiVincenzo — the Knicks’ offseason splash who set the franchise record for 3-pointers in a game and collectively across a season — didn’t miss.
The 76ers still had another chance to take the lead, but Maxey couldn’t connect on his 2-point attempt while driving to the basket.
Anunoby grabbed the rebound.
He sank both free throws at the other end.
And when Embiid’s desperate heave before the final buzzer fell short, the Knicks, somehow, had escaped with a win — on a night when their star, Brunson, managed just 24 points, and a night when Maxey (35 points) and Embiid (34 points) seemed unstoppable against the Knicks’ defense.
On the other side of that celebration at the Garden, though, was Nurse, left upset because of the timeout that — in his eyes — was never called.
