What happened at the end of the Knicks-Rockets game? Examining controversial refereeing decision that sealed New York’s loss

The New York Knicks lost 105-103 to the Houston Rockets on Monday after a last-second call by crew chief Ed Malloy on a 3-point attempt, which gave the Rockets three free throws at the 0.3-minute mark of the fourth quarter.

Jalen Brunson was charged for the foul with a late contest when the refs called for an illegal lower-body contact on Aaron Holiday's desperate heave from 28 feet. Soon after the game, on reviewing the play, Malloy said, according to The Athletic's Fred Katz:

“After seeing it during postgame review, the offensive player was able to return to a normal playing position on the floor.”

“The contact which occurred after the release of the ball therefore is incidental and marginal to the shot attempt and should not have been called.”

Holiday made the first two free throws and purposely missed the third to run out the remaining 0.3 seconds.

However, the drama hadn't concluded, as the refs gave the Knicks a timeout after the missed free throw, with a request to look at the replay to find out how much time needed to be put back onto the shot clock.

On review, it was confirmed that the time had run out and the timeout, which was initially granted, would no longer be valid.

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New York Knicks vs Houston Rockets aftermath

Tom Thibodeau, who had been hit with his first technical of the season on a bizarre first-half-ending call, angrily shouted at Malloy before calming down.

“Tough way to lose a game,” he said. “Tough way to lose a game.”

The players shared similar views. Brunson responded to each inquiry about the play with:

"Great call. Next question."

Josh Hart, when questioned about the call, remarked:

"I don’t know. What do you think?"

The Knicks might have suffered another setback. Donte DiVincenzo, who scored 23 points, attempted to continue playing despite a problem with his right hamstring but eventually left with 5:12 left, straight to the locker room.

During a timeout 40 seconds before, DiVincenzo dedicated almost the entire break to addressing the issue, initially on his own and then with a theragun provided by the medical team. He stayed in the game after the timeout but was compelled to exit shortly thereafter.

Heading into the game, the Knicks boasted a 22-1 record against teams below a .500 winning percentage. They were up against the Rockets, who were on a four-game losing streak, with a losing record and without their point guard Fred VanVleet.

With Monday's win, the Rockets improved to 18-9 at home and 23-29, sitting in 12th spot, three games behind the Utah Jazz.