National Basketball Association

Ref admits he blew call in Hawks' win

Published May. 8, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

NBA referee Bennett Salvatore acknowledged Sunday that he blew a call in the closing minutes of Atlanta's 100-88 victory over the Chicago Bulls, which evened the Eastern Conference semifinal at two games apiece.

With 2 1/2 minutes remaining and the Hawks leading 90-84, Bulls star Derrick Rose went up for a shot beyond the 3-point stripe and appeared to be fouled by Jamal Crawford.

Salvatore blew his whistle, but ruled he had done it inadvertently. That led to a jump ball, which Atlanta's Josh Smith tapped away from Joakim Noah. The Hawks scored on that possession to essentially finish off the Bulls.

''An inadvertent whistle is when a referee blows a whistle and didn't mean to,'' Salvatore said. ''That's exactly what happened. I blew my whistle and didn't mean to. I didn't think it was a foul.''

Bennett changed his opinion after watching a replay.

''It was a foul and I should have called it,'' he said. ''I made a mistake.''

Rose walked away in disgust when he saw Bennett signal a jump ball instead of a foul. But the league's MVP brushed off the impact of the play on the Bulls' chances.

''That's basketball,'' he said.

Coach Tom Thibodeau argued for a foul but, like Rose, he didn't raise too much of a stink afterward.

''He just said it was inadvertent,'' Thibodeau said. ''Bennett's a good official. He made a mistake.''

Salvatore said he was ''positive'' there was no foul on Rose when he blew his whistle.

''It was a foul,'' the referee said. ''I was wrong.''