PHILADELPHIA VS. TORONTO MILWAUKEE VS. CHARLOTTE SAN ANTONIO VS. DALLAS L.A. LAKERS VS. SACRAMENTO

Wednesday, May 30 Timekeeper not on Philly's side Associated Press PHILADELPHIA – A timekeeping error cost the Philadelphia 76ers eight seconds early in the fourth quarter Sunday. No big deal, unless you asked the Sixers about it. On Philadelphia's first possession of the fourth quarter, Dikembe Mutombo scored on a layup and got fouled. The clock continued to run and was reset to 11:31 as Mutombo completed the three-point play, cutting the Sixers' deficit to nine points in a 96-93 loss to the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series. The problem was Mutombo could not have made the shot 29 seconds into the fourth quarter or the 24-second shot clock would have expired because Philadelphia had not taken a shot after opening the quarter with possession. "When I noticed the clock had not stopped, I went to the scorers table and asked play-by-play personnel and table personnel what time Mutombo made his shot," referee Luis Grillo said after the game. "And they told me it was 11:31, so I reset it to 11:31. We watched the tape (after the game), put a stopwatch to it and it definitely should not have been 11:31. It should have been 10 seconds more, according to the stop watch." Sixers coach Larry Brown said he tried questioning the call, but nobody wanted to discuss it. General manager Billy King wasn't too thrilled about it. "The three officials on the court should be responsible for the time, not the scorers table," King said. The Sixers ran out of time, losing to Toronto when Aaron McKie missed a 3-pointer just before the final buzzer. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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