Arena officials promise shot-clock will be back Tuesday

Air Canada Centre promises things will work better on Tuesday.

In a statement, managers of the 15-year-old downtown facility blamed a "signal path failure" that led to all the shot clocks failing midway through the third quarter, and promising a return to professionalism in arena management by the next game in the Nets-Raptors series The failure led to a makeshift arrangement that harkened back to the days shortly after Dr. James Naismith nailed a peach basket to a wall in Springfield, Mass.

"New cables will be run to ensure no issues arise on Tuesday, and the NBA will inspect both the fixed and backup systems for Game 2," according to a short statement from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

With Adam Silver in attendance --and not pleased-- the snafu caused a game delay then a frustrating arrangement described by Doug Smith of the Toronto Star.

On a day that turned public address announcer Herbie Kuhn into something of a human stopwatch, the 15-year-old building wasn’t up to snuff...

Kuhn became the voice of time. He would intone the start of the shot clock with every change of possession — as if NBA players don’t know it starts at 24 — and then call out the 15-second, 10-second and five-second marks before a "five, four, three, two, one" countdown.

Paul Pierce was asked about the delay and whether he had ever experienced anything like it in his career. Pierce deftly combined a number of game threads in his response.

"I don’t remember if I’ve ever played (in a game without a clock) since I’m a dinosaur," he joked. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is The Truth.

• Raptors, ACC scramble after shot clock meltdown in Game 1 - Doug Smith - Toronto Star
• Man With Stopwatch Replaces Broken Shot Clock (Video) - ESPN
• Notebook: Shot-clock madness - Ohm Youngmisuk - ESPN New York
• Nets notes: Human shot clock - Andy Vasquez - The Record
• Malfunction makes Game 1 shot clock become human - Rod Boone - Newsday
  
• Shot clock problem forces PA countdowns and air horn at Raptors-Nets Game - Eric Freeman - Yahoo Sports