The Lakers And Grizzlies Played A 49-Minute Game Due To A Clock Reset Error In The Third Quarter

Ad Blocker Detected

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

Getty Image

The Lakers beat the Grizzlies 123-120 on Saturday night in a game that was a tight battle throughout but saw L.A. eke out a win to keep their hopes alive of the 8-seed in the West (and thus two cracks at a Play-In win to make the playoffs).

However, rather than being a 48 minute battle, it was maybe the first NBA game in history to play 49:06 of regulation. That’s because of a clock reset error in the third quarter that put an extra 1:06 on the game clock after a Grizzlies shot clock violation, as the game clock reset from 1:14 to 2:20, with no one in the arena seeming not notice.

Lakers Grizzlies Clock
Bally Sports

Lakers Grizzlies Clock
Bally Sports

I went back and rewatched the end of the third quarter to figure out what happened, and it seems that it was confusion from the clock operator. Memphis had committed a shot clock violation with 2:20 left on the game clock prior to the one they committed with 1:14 to go in the quarter. So, when they reset the clocks, they must’ve either been on autopilot and done the same thing they’d done just over a minute ago or hit a pre-populated reset button that still had 2:20 on the game clock from the previous reset. The result was an extra minute of play, and in that time, the Lakers got a bit of an advantage. In the final 1:06 of the quarter (which shouldn’t have been played), L.A. got two buckets to Memphis’ one, turning a 1-point deficit into a 1-point lead.

Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/lakers-grizzlies-clock-error-reset-third-quarter-extra-time-video/