Judging from the look on Josh Green’s face and the tone in his voice, the sting of Wednesday night’s loss to Golden State and bewilderment about you-know-what moment had subsided by early Thursday afternoon.
Somewhat. Grudgingly. Out of necessity to move forward.
“Obviously,” Green said, “we’re not happy about what happened.”
With nine games left and their playoff chances teetering, the Mavericks don’t have time to dwell on the third-quarter gift basket that Dallas believes the referee crew hand-wrapped for the Warriors.
As of Thursday evening there was no word of whether the Mavericks followed through on team governor Mark Cuban’s vow to file an official protest with the NBA about the play, in which Golden State, coming out of a timeout, got an unguarded dunk.
The Mavericks on Thursday continued to insist that as they headed to the bench for the timeout, they fully believed they would have possession when the timeout ended.
Their primary point of contention, the one they will emphasize if a protest is filed within the league-mandated 48 hours from the game’s conclusion, is that the referee crew should have paused the game and resolved the confusion when both teams lined up in offensive sets.
Coach Jason Kidd was asked Thursday whether he believes Dallas has a strong case for a protest.
“I think we have a case,” he said. “Is it right, or wrong? The league is going to have to make that decision.
“There was some confusion coming out of that timeout, clearly. Could have been handled differently. It wasn’t. We can learn from it, and we’ve got to move forward.”
History and odds are not in Dallas’ favor for a successful protest.
According to the NBA’s best-available records, there have been 45 protests dating to the first recorded protest in 1952. Only six protests have been upheld (13.3%).
The last team to file a protest was Dallas in Feb. 2020, after a loss in Atlanta. The Mavericks contended that the Hawks were incorrectly awarded a basket with 8.4 seconds left and Atlanta leading by two.
Dallas forward Dorian Finney-Smith was incorrectly called for goaltending. After the whistle, the ball was rebounded by Atlanta’s John Collins, who scored. After a replay review, the goal-tending call was reversed, but the basket stood.
Thirteen days after Dallas filed that protest, in which it cited a “misapplication of rules,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver denied the protest and fined Cuban $500,000 for detrimental conduct because of his public criticism of the league’s referee system.
The most recent successful NBA protest occurred in 2007, when Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal was incorrectly ruled to have six fouls in a game against Atlanta when in fact he had five. The final 51 seconds of that game were replayed on March 8, 2008, but Atlanta still won.
Kidd on Thursday was asked if he has any expectation of a successful protest.
“I don’t think there’s been too many protests that have been successful in the history of the NBA, so I would probably, analytically, lean that way,” he said. “If there’s a protest filed and we don’t win, it just falls in order with the other protests.”
Another factor seemingly working against Dallas: Protests historically are filed based on an incorrect ruling or misapplication of the rules. If any rule was broken or misapplied Wednesday, it’s unclear what that would be.
If anything, the crew of Sean Wright, Michael Smith and Andy Nagy neglected to provide clarity to a chaotic situation.
On the play that preceded the timeout, a missed 3-pointer by Anthony Lamb, replays showed that the ball caromed off either the Warriors’ Kevon Looney or Dallas’ Jaden Hardy out of bounds. (Replays also show Looney yank Doncic by the back of his jersey to the court, but that’s another subject).
Referee Nagy immediately motioned that it was Golden State’s ball. But then he blew his whistle and pointed in the other direction. According to crew chief Wright’s postgame statement to a pool reporter, “that signal is for a mandatory timeout that was due to the Mavs.”
That conflicts with what the Mavericks believed at the time.
“We were under the impression that it was our ball,” Green said. “That’s what the referees told us. Usually, you go by what the referee tells you to do.”
When the Mavericks broke their timeout huddle, Kidd said, Hardy was supposed to go to the Warriors’ end of the court to inbound the ball to Hardy. But before Hardy and Green could reach midcourt, Jordan Poole inbounded the ball to Looney for a dunk.
“My best ATO (after time out) play of the year,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr quipped. “It worked brilliantly. . . When I saw (the Mavericks) at the other end, I had to stop and think, ‘Wait, isn’t this our basket?’ "
What was funny to Golden State is no laughing matter to Dallas, though. Perhaps fortunately, its next two games are against 23-50 Charlotte, a chances for the Mavericks to further ease the sting and bewilderment of Wednesday night.
NBA PROTEST GUIDELINES
(From the NBA rule book under Basic Principles, Section F)
Protests are not permitted during the course of a game. In order to file a protest, the procedure, as set forth in the NBA constitution, is as follows: “In order to protest against or appeal from the result of a game, notice thereof must be given to the Commissioner within forty-eight (48) hours after the conclusion of said game, by e-mail or fax, stating therein the grounds for such protest. No protest may be filed in connection with any game played during the regular season after midnight of the day of the last game of the regular schedule. A protest in connection with a playoff game must be filed not later than midnight of the day of the game protested.
A game may be protested only by a Governor, Alternate Governor or Head Coach. The right of protest shall inure not only to the immediately allegedly aggrieved contestants, but to any other member who can show an interest in the grounds of protest and the results that might be attained if the protest were allowed. Each e-mail or fax of protest shall be immediately confirmed by letter and no protest shall be valid unless the letter of confirmation is accompanied by a check in the sum of $10,000 payable to the Association.
If the member filing the protest prevails, the $10,000 is to be refunded. If the member does not prevail, the $10,000 is to be forfeited and retained in the Association treasury. “Upon receipt of a protest, the Commissioner shall at once notify the member operating the opposing team in the game protested and require both of said members within five (5) days to file with him such evidence as he may desire bearing upon the issue. The Commissioner shall decide the question raised within five (5) days after receipt of such evidence.
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