The referees acknowledged on Saturday that they made a mistake in the controversial finish of the Charlotte vs. Milwaukee game, which ended with a 115-114 victory for the Hornets over the Bucks. 

The Bucks (4-9) took the lead 113-114 with 19.1 seconds left, thanks to 5 consecutive points from Pat Connaughton.
Giannis Antetokounmpo took on the responsibility of defending LaMelo Ball on the next possession, and the referees called a questionable foul on him. The Hornets' star (5-7) made both free throws, regaining the lead for the home team at 115-114 with 7.3 seconds remaining.

In the final possession, Giannis had the shot to give the visitors the win, but his mid-range jumper missed.
"In real time, Giannis was called for a foul due to illegal leg-to-leg contact on Ball’s drive to the basket," explained the referees, according to the NBA pool report.
"During the post-game review, upon analyzing the play, we determined there was no illegal contact," they acknowledged.

The referees also admitted that, had the Bucks requested a review of the play, they would have corrected the decision; however, Milwaukee had already exhausted its review opportunities.

This controversial refereeing decision was criticized by Rivers in the post-game press conference.
The Milwaukee coach reminded reporters that in the previous game against Detroit, they also suffered a questionable foul in the final seconds (in that case, Ron Holland missed two free throws for the Pistons, and the game went to overtime).
"These are two straight games where, on the final play, there’s an incorrect decision. LaMelo just fell down, he simply fell. No one was near him, he slipped on his own," he pointed out.
"In Detroit, we were lucky because (Holland) missed both free throws. Tonight, LaMelo Ball made his free throws, and clearly, there was no foul. When you watch the video, the referee who called it was blocked by one of our players. You can’t guess in a play at the end of the game," he added.

The coach also criticized the double standard regarding the fouls called on the Bucks and those that, according to him, are not called when Giannis is attacking. He also highlighted the imbalance between the 21 free throws the Hornets had that night (making 18) and the 11 the Bucks had (making 5).

"Giannis had just one free throw. If you see when Giannis made a dunk (in the fourth quarter), the entire Charlotte team fouled him. The whole team. And nothing was called. Giannis attacks the rim because he’s strong, and they can hit him on the arm, in the face… And as he keeps going, he doesn’t get credit for the contact he’s creating. Giannis was in the paint the whole game. Somebody explain to me how he only had one free throw," he argued. 

"In the end, we got the switch we wanted: we had Giannis on LaMelo. Our biggest guy and one of the best defenders in the league. And they call us for a phantom foul. These mistakes can’t happen," he concluded.