NBA's last two-minute report disagrees with Rick Carlisle on collision

The NBA disagreed with Pacers coach Rick Carlisle 's belief that the collision between All-Star forward Pascal Siakam and Mavericks forward Caleb Martin at the end of Indiana's loss to Dallas on Monday was clearly a foul . The league ruled that the contract between the two players was "incidental." However, there was a significant call about 15 seconds earlier that the league acknowledged the officials got wrong. The NBA releases reports on calls made in the last two minutes of games in which the scoring margin is within three points at any point in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter or in overtime. The Pacers lost 125-122 to the Mavericks so that made it the lone qualifying game from Monday night. The Pacers had the ball sideline out-of-bounds with 3.7 seconds to go, trailing by three. Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard lobbed a pass to the opposite elbow to Siakam who reached up to try to catch the pass. Martin was defending another Pacers player closer to the baseline and broke on the ball. He got a hand on the pass and he and Siakam collided, both going to the ground. Mavericks guard Walter Clayton Jr. chased down the ball and the clock ran out, giving the Mavericks the win. Carlisle immediately went after the officiating crew, asking for a foul and almost unprompted, launched into a complaint about the call in his postgame press conference "It was a football-caliber collision," Carlisle said. "It's clearly a foul. We would have been shooting two free throws with 3.5 seconds left. I'm at a loss for what was being looked at. Then you ask and the response is shocking." In the last two-minute report, however, the NBA said that the fact that Martin got his hand on the ball before colliding with Siakam effectively makes that contact irrelevant. "Martin (DAL) deflects the ball away from Siakam (IND)," the report reads. "The ensuing contact that occurs after the deflection is considered incidental." The report deemed only one call made in the last two minutes to be incorrect and it was one that bailed Mavericks All-Star guard Kyrie Irving out of a tough spot with 18 seconds to go. The Pacers drew within one point of the lead on an Aaron Nesmith 3-pointer, 123-122, with 21 seconds to go. On the ensuing inbounds play, Nesmith and Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard trapped Irving with the ball in the backcourt near the sideline and the Pacers bench. Nesmith put two hands on Irving before he jumped to try to make a pass and the whistle was blown. Carlisle and Nesmith protested at the time. The NBA ruled that call was incorrect because "Nesmith (IND) grasps, and immediately releases, Irving's (DAL) jersey and the contact is marginal." A foul wasn't a terrible outcome for the Pacers because the shot clock was off and the Pacers essentially needed to either foul or create a turnover because the Mavericks didn't have to shoot the ball. Irving eventually hit two free throws and Nesmith missed a 3-point attempt with 7 seconds to go with a chance to tie the game. The Pacers only got another shot at the end because of two missed free throws by P.J. Washington. However, if the foul hadn't been called the Pacers might have been able to get a steal or an 8-second violation if they kept the Mavericks behind half court. They also could have fouled someone who was less automatic at the line than Irving -- a career 88.8% free throw shooter -- and might have been able to tie or win the game with a 2-pointer on the ensuing possession rather than a 3.