Caleb Wilson had a chance to keep Chicago’s rally alive late Saturday night, and the NBA later said he should have gotten to the line for it.
The Bulls rookie had already put his stamp on the night in the quarter after helping Chicago steady itself in a furious comeback attempt against the Wizards. After the Bulls were beaten by 20 in the third quarter, they clawed back to make it a one-possession game with less than a minute left.
Wilson drilled a three to cut it to 118-112, then Matas Buzlies answered with a triple of his own. Anthony Davis then pushed Washington ahead 120-115 at the line, but Chicago still had life. Wilson got the ball again and launched another three with about 10 seconds remaining.
He never got the shot off cleanly. Davis closed hard, Wilson’s body got crowded, and the rookie nearly went down while appealing for a foul that never came. Chicago had to foul Trae Young, and the Wizards finished the job at the stripe.
It looked like a clear case for three free throws in real time, and the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report backed that up a day later. The league said the officials missed a call that should have put Wilson at the line with 9.4 seconds left.
According to the report, Davis made contact with Wilson’s wrist and altered the jumper, which should have resulted in three free throws. Wilson immediately reacted as though he felt the contact, turning toward the officials and throwing up his hands after no whistle came.
A foul there would not have guaranteed a Chicago win. Even if Wilson made all three, the Bulls still would have trailed 120-118. But it would have given them a much better shot to keep the pressure on after trimming a big deficit, and Wilson had just shown one night earlier that he could handle late-game free throws, making all four of his late attempts in Milwaukee.
The loss still traces back to Chicago’s third quarter, and Tiago Splitter said as much afterward. But the missed whistle adds another painful wrinkle for the Bulls, especially with a tough stretch ahead. It was a game they could have stolen, and by the league’s own accounting, they should have had one more chance to do it.
For Wilson, it’s another lesson in the rough edges of an NBA rookie season. The calls aren’t always going to come, and the margin for error gets thinner when a team lets a quarter get away from it. In games like this, every possession matters.
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