Ref Tony Brothers on controversial non-call in Pistons' loss: No player had possession of the ball

If you ask the Pistons, there's nothing to debate: Jarrett Allen tripped Ausar Thompson, who should have had a chance to win the game at the free-throw line. Instead, Game 5 went to overtime and the Cavs stole it in Detroit after erasing a nine-point deficit in the final two and a half minutes of regulation.

"He fouled Ausar," J.B. Bickerstaff said after the Pistons' 117-113 loss that pushed them to the brink of elimination. "It’s clear. He trips him when he’s going for a loose ball. End-of-game situation, that’s tough."

After stripping Donovan Mitchell in the lane with the score tied at 103 in the final seconds of regulation, Thompson turned up court with the ball and was knocked to the floor from behind by Allen when their legs got tangled up. A foul would have given Thompson two shots to put the Pistons in front with about one second on the block.

Nothing was called.

"You all saw the play," said Cade Cunningham. "I think it’s pretty clear it was a foul. He has the ball in his possession, he’s running forward, he gets tripped up. That’s a foul. It’s been a foul the whole game — wasn’t a foul at that time. But, close game, nobody wants to make that call, I guess. Everybody wants to allow the game to sort itself out, so nobody wanted to interfere with it whenever it should have been a foul."

Head official Tony Brothers, who was right on top of the play when it occurred, said in a pool report after the game that he didn't call a foul because "during live play, both players were going for the ball and there was incidental contact with the legs, with no player having possession of the ball."

The incidental contact, Brothers said, is why it didn't warrant a foul.

Thompson was diplomatic in the locker room after the game.

"We can’t look at the refs to get us a win, even if it was a foul or not," he said. "We could’ve done better to put ourselves in a good position."

Asked if he got an explanation from the officials on the non-call, Thompson said, "Nah, they didn’t give a lot of explanations in general. Kind of just walked away. But that’s OK. Can’t blame the refs. But hopefully next time I’m able to have a more solid conversation.”

Paul Reed, who was right behind Thompson as the play developed, had the same view of it as Cunningham.

"He got tripped," said Reed. "They didn’t call it. Referees don’t call a lot of calls, so it’s not like that’s the make-or-break call to win or lose the game. It was just another play that the refs missed. They miss a lot of calls, so it’s nothing new."