Head referee Joey Johnson blew his whistle.
But then he saw that the two players hadn't even made contact.
There was no need to watch the replay. It was obvious they hadn't touched at all.
Damn, he'd really made a fool of himself this time.
Joey Johnson was grumbling about the Death Bell, too.
What the hell was wrong with you?
Weren't you usually as tough as nails?
Why'd you throw yourself aside the moment Wang Yi came charging at you? You've got to have something seriously wrong with you.
But Joey Johnson was an old referee with more than twenty years of experience, and he lived up to his reputation.
His ability to adapt on the fly was second to none.
With everyone staring at him, waiting to see why he'd blown the whistle, he acted out a fake fall, pointed to the Death Bell's number, then made the signal for a technical foul.
He also went over to the scorer's table and told the technician:
"Pacers No. 35, fake fall! One technical foul. The Raptors will shoot one free throw and retain possession."
Under the NBA's current rules, if a referee ruled that a player had faked a fall, that player would be assessed a technical foul, and the opposing team would receive one free throw and possession.
The other two referees nodded in agreement.
No wonder he'd been refereeing for more than twenty years. He'd made a decisive call in the heat of the moment.
As a referee, an occasional wrong call or missed call wasn't the problem. The real problem was hesitating when making a call.
Joey Johnson was a model referee.
When the spectators saw the call, they all gave him a thumbs-up.
"Great call, ref!"
"Eagle eyes!"
"What a sharp eye!"
But the Pacers