Phantom Buzzer Game
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Date | November 6, 1969 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Venue | Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois | |||||||||||||||||||||
Referees | Jack Madden, Bob Rakel |
The Phantom Buzzer Game is the unofficial name of a National Basketball Association game between the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks on November 6, 1969 at Chicago Stadium. The game was famous for referee Bob Rakel disallowing a game-tying basket because he claimed the buzzer sounded, even though there was one second left on the clock, and also for being the first incident where an official protest was upheld by the NBA.
The incident and protest
Late in the game with time winding down and Atlanta leading 124–122, the Bulls heaved a desperation shot that bounced off the rim, but Bulls center Tom Boerwinkle tipped it in to tie the game at 124 with one second left. Despite this, Rakel waved off Boerwinkle's basket because he claimed he heard the final buzzer go off before it went in.
Bulls coach
Afterwards, Williams immediately filed an official protest with the NBA. After sorting through the evidence, commissioner
Playing it out
The game was ordered to be continued before the Hawks and Bulls' next scheduled game in
Unfortunately, when the suspended contest resumed, the clock ran to zero without the buzzer sounding, because the timekeeper had forgotten to set it. Despite Motta's embarrassment and Hawks coach Richie Guerin's mock protests, the officials working that game declared the second had expired and started the overtime period. The Bulls eventually lost the suspended game 142–137.
See also
- NBA records
References
- The Basketball Hall of Shame by Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo pp. 95-96