NBA says Heat’s Bam Adebayo’s foul against Bulls’ Coby White was incorrect call, making eight-second violation less likely

While the NBA maintains that the Miami Heat’s eight-second inbounding violation during closing time of their 106-101 win versus the Chicago Bulls on Saturday was the correct call, the Heat shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place.

In the league’s two-minute report, the NBA stated that the foul called on Bam Adebayo against Coby White’s 3-point attempt with 30.3 seconds left in the game was the incorrect call.

The Heat were leading, 103-96, when Adebayo foul was called for the foul, with White making all three free throws for the Bulls to bring the Heat’s lead down to four.

Per the report: “Adebayo (MIA) legally contests the jump shot attempt by White (CHI), who extends his leg to attempt to create contact.”

“Coby White broke free. I think Jimmy slipped and at that point you are just scrambling,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra recalled. “You got Bam covering a lot of ground to try to take away the three. [White] kicked his leg out and was able to draw the foul.”

If called correctly, the Heat would’ve received possession of the ball up seven points with 30 seconds left on the clock, making it less likely the Bulls would’ve full-court pressed the Heat on their ensuing possession.

Spoelstra said after Saturday’s game that because their initial inbounding attempt was deflected and took a second off the shot clock, the Heat’s eight seconds hadn’t passed yet when they were called for the violation with 21.6 seconds left in the game.

“It shouldn’t have been an eight-second violation,” Spoelstra said. “That is what [assistant coach Chris Quinn] was trying to highlight to [referee] Courtney [Kirkland] and the officiating staff. We had the ball and it was a deflection — there was already a second off. Courtney owned it and things moved quickly. That should’ve been an advance to Duncan right there.”

The league said the eight-second violation was the correct call, adding, “Miami does not advance the ball from the backcourt into the frontcourt within 8 seconds.”

The Heat (32-29) beat the Bulls (25-35) despite the late calls not going in their favor, with a rematch between the teams set for 8 p.m. on Monday evening at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Injury report

Kendrick Nunn (questionable, left foot soreness) and Andre Iguodala (out, left hip soreness) were added to the Heat’s injury report for Monday’s game.

Goran Dragic was taken off the team’s injury report after missing Saturday’s game due to lower-back and right-knee injury recovery, ostensibly resting him for a back-to-back set the Heat were in the midst of after playing in their loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

Nunn has played in the Heat’s last nine games and recorded 22 points, five rebounds and two assists in the team’s win over the Bulls on Saturday.

Iguodala has played in the last two games and has previously been listed on the injury report with hip soreness, seemingly providing the 37-year-old forward with rest during the truncated NBA season.

Victor Oladipo will remain sidelined for the 10th consecutive game due to a sore right knee. He last played in the Heat’s home win against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 8, limping to the team’s locker room after landing awkwardly following a dunk in the fourth quarter of the 110-104 victory.

Tyler Herro was listed as questionable with right foot soreness after missing Saturday’s game with the injury. The foot soreness also kept him out of last Monday night’s win versus the Houston Rockets. He scored 22 points in Wednesday’s road victory against the San Antonio Spurs and recorded 12 points in Friday’s loss to the Hawks.

Gabe Vincent was listed as probable with right knee soreness as he has for a significant portion of the season.