Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Shot Clock Malfunction In Memphis Grizzlies’ Win Over Pelicans Had PA Announcer Work Extra Hours

Ja Morant had 32 points and eight assists, Jaren Jackson Jr. added 17 points and six blocks, and Desmond Bane finished with 18 points, as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the New Orleans Pelicans 116-101 in their last game of 2022.

Zion Williamson scored 20 points for the Pelicans, while Trey Murphy III added 15. The game itself was pretty entertaining and not as one-sided as the score might suggest, as the Grizzlies only pulled away at the beginning of the fourth quarter, with a 19-4 run.

The most remarkable part of the game however was the fact that a shot clock malfunction had the PA announcer work extra hours.

The game was delayed about 12 minutes in the middle of the second quarter due to said malfunction that left the shot clocks at over both baskets blank.

The arena technicians weren’t able to find or fix the mistake immediately so the game continued and the time on the shot clock time was kept by the 24-second operator and called out by the PA announcer, until everything went back to normal shortly before halftime. 

Most interestingly during the shot clock-less time, according to the NBA rule book, is the fact that when there is a shot clock violation an air horn has to be blown. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a shot clock violation in that span, and no air horns needed to be blown.