San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich yells to his players during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018, in San Antonio. Memphis won 104-103. (AP Photo/Darren Abate) less
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich yells to his players during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018, in San Antonio. Memphis won 104-103. (AP ... more
Photo: Darren Abate, Associated Press
Photo: Darren Abate, Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS – Coach Gregg Popovich on Friday praised the NBA for having the "courage" to admit its referees made mistakes in the final seconds of the Spurs' dramatic 104-103 loss to Memphis on Wednesday night.
In Thursday's Last Two Minute Report, the NBA acknowledged the officials missed a foul by the Grizzlies' Marc Gasol on a 3-point attempt by LaMarcus Aldridge at the buzzer with the Spurs trailing by the final score.
"Gasol jumps from A to B into Aldridge and makes contact to his arm and body that affects his jump shot attempt," the report states.
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Had the call been made, the play would have resulted in Aldridge attempting three foul shots with 0.5 seconds left. He had made 7 of 9 from the free throw line in the game after entering it shooting 81.1 percent from the charity stripe.
Popovich addressed the report after the Spurs' shootaround Friday morning in preparation for the team's 7 p.m. game against the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
"The two-minute report is great because it gives transparency to everything," Popovich said. "There were a couple of calls missed. The NBA had the courage to call it out, and that's that. You move on."
The NBA also admitted Memphis' Shelvin Mack should have been called for an offensive foul against DeMar DeRozan as the Grizzlies were attempting to inbound to Gasol with 1.2 seconds left.
Rudy Gay fouled Gasol on the play, which led to Gasol sinking a pair of free throws to give Memphis a 104-103 lead with 0.7 seconds left. The NBA confirmed the call against Gay was correct.
But as Popovich said the Spurs have no choice now but to move on. Despite the mistakes, their record remains 8-9 with a tough back-to-back looming against Indiana and Milwaukee.