The NBA cites two officiating errors at the Heat-Pacers' end

While the deciding factor in the Miami Heat's 117-115 road loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday was an early 22-point deficit, the NBA in the league's referee report on Monday pointed to two referee errors in the final two minutes that were to the detriment of the Heat went.

– The report said Heat guard Tyler Herro should have made three free throws at the line while the Heat trailed by five with 55.1 seconds left in the game. Instead, Herro's errant 3-point attempt was disallowed.

According to the NBA report, “During his release, (TJ) McConnell (IND) touched the portion of Herro's (MIA) hand that was not on the ball, interfering with his jump shot attempt.”

– When the Heat trapped Pacers center Myles Turner and forced a turnover with 17.1 seconds left and two behind, the officiating report said a foul should not have been called against the Heat because Heat forward Haywood Highsmith had the ball had. Turner instead hit two free throws to give Indiana a four-point lead.

According to the NBA report, “(Bam) Adebayo (MIA) makes clean contact with the ball while Herro (MIA) randomly touches hand-on-ball to push it away from Turner (IND).”

However, the NBA confirmed suspicions of a lane violation against Herro due to an intentional free throw error with 3.5 seconds left and the Heat trailing by two.

According to the report, “Herro (MIA) rises above the plane of the free throw line before his free throw attempt touches the basket.”

The NBA only offers reports for the final two minutes of games where no three points were scored at any point in the final two minutes. The Heat Pacers report cited 18 correct calls and two calls that were deemed incorrect, a ratio that is not atypical.