“Smells like BS ... why would they go to the trouble of getting a no-knock warrant, and then knock?” No “side of a story” there - must suck to have to battle straw men because you can’t rebut what’s actually been said.
And that assessment is from how many years you were in law enforcement? I could just as easily assume they got the no-knock anticipating certain precautions, but when they got there, they decided those precautions weren’t needed.