Although he had only stepped on the line by a little, he had still stepped on it. So one point had to be deducted from Team America's score, bringing it to 100–101, with Team America trailing by one.
There were only 1.3 seconds left, and possession still belonged to Serbia.
This left Steve Kerr absolutely furious on Team America's behalf.
He went straight over to the referee.
"Oh, come on, that's unfair! How can you do this?"
The referee shook his head. "It would be unfair if that shot counted as a three. According to the rules, if the replay officials spot a three-pointer with a foot on the line, they have to take a point away."
Steve Kerr shook his head over and over like a rattle.
"No, what I mean is, if you were going to take away a point, you should have done it earlier. Then we could have made different decisions. For example, on our last possession, we would have tried for a three instead of a two."
"Now there are only 1.3 seconds left, and Serbia has the ball, and you're telling me you're suddenly taking away a point? You're just messing with us."
The referee shrugged. "You know reviewing the replay takes time. And deducting the point now is completely in accordance with the rules."
Even as Steve Kerr continued arguing with the referee, the official remained unmoved.
For Serbia, the news was a gift from heaven. Before, they would have had to take one final shot to decide the game—or even go to overtime. But now that they were ahead by one, they could inbound the ball and simply wait for the other team to foul.
But Jokic didn't think that was safe enough.
So when Serbia prepared to inbound the ball, Jokic