ESPN caused shot clock malfunction in Raptors-Nets

ESPN caused the shot clocks to malfunction during Game 1 Saturday between the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre when it tried to solve an internal issue by plugging into the same power source for the shot clocks, causing the power source to fry, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the cause of the malfunction.

The shot clocks stopped working midway through the third quarter, and arena workers could not get the backup shot clocks to work because they used the same power source. Players relied on the public address announcer to inform them of the time left on the shot clock.

He announced "24" when the shot clock reset, gave players an update with 10 second left, counted down the final five seconds – "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" – and announced "horn" when the shot clock expired.

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Raptors and Air Canada Centre released a statement after the game.

"We experienced a signal path failure midway through the third quarter of today's game," the statement said. "Our backup system for the temporary shot clocks relied on the same source. New cables will be run tonight and tomorrow to ensure no issues arise on Tuesday and the NBA will inspect both the fixed and backup systems before Game 2."

Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment though is on the hook for using the same power source for the primary and backup shot clocks. They are no longer using the same source.