CHARLOTTE -- NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik confirmed on Tuesday what everybody knew already.

Referee Bernie Fryer made a mistake.

Granik told the Charlotte Observer that Fryer made the wrong judgment by waving off Baron Davis' game-winning shot at the end of regulation of Game 3 of the Hornets' first-round series against the Orlando Magic. The Hornets won the game in overtime anyway, and clinched the series with another victory on Tuesday night. Television replays clearly showed that Davis got the shot off in time.

"I don't think replay had anything to do with the shot over the weekend," Granik told the newspaper. "The referees all knew that the shot beat the clock. Watching a replay wasn't going to change that.

"I think the referee made a judgment, which ... was not appropriate under the circumstances, that he didn't think it could happen in that amount of time, regardless of what it looked like on the clock."

The issue, Granik told the newspaper, was that the referees were anticipating a delay between the inbounds pass hitting Davis' hands and the game clock starting with seven-tenths of a second left in regulation.

In a single motion, Davis turned to the basket and hit a three-pointer off the glass that should have avoided overtime.

"Those are judgments we make at three-tenths or four-tenths but (with seven-tenths left) I think we just should have gone with the clock," Granik told the paper.