Shame shame if you missed tonight’s Bulls-Nuggets game; it featured one of the closest game-ending calls in recent memory - certainly the closest of the young season. Quick recap to set the scene: Nuggets lead throughout the 4th quarter, only to see the Bulls make up a 7-point deficit late and tie the game at 89. Chauncey Billups gets the ball, gets fouled on the last shot by Kirk Hinrich (it was a good call, if not one that always gets called on the last play of the game), and goes to the line with under a second left. Hits the first, misses the second on purpose, Bulls get it and immediately call timeout. Clock runs out… but the officials put 0.3 seconds back on the clock! So you’re sayin’ there’s a chance! After the timeout, the Bulls inbound from their side of the court, get it to Brad Miller who gets the shot off as soon as he touches it, aaaaand….

(…well? Good? No?)

The shot miraculously goes in, and the refs call it good. It’s a celebration, bitches! Naturally, they go to the sideline monitor to review the play, because wow. And they keep reviewing. And keep reviewing. And–look, I’m going to write that over and over until you have to read it for five minutes, because that’s how long it took before the referees called it no good and gave the win to the Nuggets. Video, courtesy of the always-clutch @jose3030, is after the break.

We’re going “C, leaning B,” ourselves. If this were football, they’d probably let the first ruling (good) stand after a couple minutes of review, and the Bulls would win. But this, of course, is not football; if it were, David Stern would be fired at once, because what the hell man.

Tough break for the Bulls, who figured to be somewhere near that 5th-to-9th range once the playoff picture all shakes out this season. If they miss a spot or a seed by one game, they’ll always know they were that. damn. close to getting it tonight. Alas.