Hawks-Heat 2007 Do-Over
From Hoopedia
The Hawks-Heat Do-Over Game happened during the December 19, 2007 game between the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat, in one of the most bizarre finishes to a game in NBA history.
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The Game
The game went into overtime, with the score deadlocked. The Hawks were leading 112-111 in overtime when Heat center Shaquille O'Neal was called for a foul. The official scorebook counted it as O'Neal's sixth foul, when it actually was only his fifth. Heat teammate Udonis Haslem had been called for a foul which was mistakenly charged to O'Neal. Despite the protests, O'Neal was disqualified. Al Horford scored the final two points and put the Hawks up 114-111.
The Appeal and Decision
On January 11, 2008 the NBA granted a game protest filed by the Miami Heat after its 117-111 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on December 19 at Philips Arena, which will result in the replay of the final 51.9 seconds of the game’s overtime period with the Hawks leading 114-111. The replay will occur immediately prior to the next scheduled game between the two teams -- on March 8, 2008, also at Philips Arena.
The Heat protested the game because, with 51.9 seconds remaining in overtime, the Hawks' scoring table personnel incorrectly disqualified the Heat's Shaquille O'Neal – asserting that a foul committed by O'Neal was his sixth foul of the game, when in fact it was only his fifth. The error occurred because the Hawks’ Official Scorer mistakenly attributed to O’Neal a foul at 3:24 remaining in the fourth period that was actually called against the Heat’s Udonis Haslem.
NBA Commissioner David Stern found that the Hawks were grossly negligent in committing this scoring error, since they failed to follow league-mandated scoring procedures and failed to respond effectively when the members of the statisticians' crew noticed the mistake. Because of this conduct by Atlanta's personnel, Miami suffered a clear competitive disadvantage, as O’Neal – the Heat’s second leading scorer and rebounder that night – was removed from a one-point game (a three-point game after the Hawks made two free-throws) with only 51.9 seconds remaining. Under this unprecedented set of circumstances, the Commissioner granted the Heat's protest, and fined the Hawks $50,000 for their violation of league rules.
The Redo
The final 51.9 seconds of the game were replayed on March 8, 2008. It took about two minutes. Miami missed a jumper in the lane. Atlanta missed a bank shot. Miami's Dwyane Wade put up a desperation three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left that missed.
Hawks players seemed unsure what to do at this point. They "lingered on the floor" briefly, before heading to the locker room. Then they quickly returned to the floor, to warm up for the evening's regularly-scheduled game.
Shaquille O'Neal did not play in the redo. He had been traded to the Phoenix Suns in the interim.
Referee Scott Foster, boasted, "That was the best game I've ever had. I didn't make one mistake."
