Tim MacMahonESPN Staff Writer11:00 PM ET3 Minute Read
The Mavericks will file a protest over their 127-125 loss to the Warriors Wednesday night in Dallas after confusion over which team had possession led to an undisputed dunk for Golden State late in the third quarter, team governor Mark said Cuban to ESPN.
After a time out, Warriors center Kevon Looney had a free dunk on an inbounds play at 1:56 in the third quarter. The Mavericks, believing they had possession, lined up at their offensive end of the court, which Cuban attributed to an officiating error.
Cuban tweeted his account of the incident on Wednesday night and said the umpires initially said it was Maverick’s ball. A timeout was then called.
“During the timeout, the officer changed the call and never told us,” Cuban wrote. “Then when they saw us line up as if it was our ball, he just gave the ball to the warriors. He never said a word to us. You have an easy basketball. Crazy that it would matter in a 2 point game.”
Cuban went on to call it the “worst officiating non-call error in NBA history”.
“They just had to tell us and they didn’t,” he wrote.
In a subsequent pool report, crew boss Sean Wright denied Cuban’s portrayal, saying the umpires originally signaled it was Golden State’s ball.
“There’s a second signal, but that signal is for a mandatory timeout that was attributable to the Mavs,” Wright said.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd claimed that official Michael Smith must have thought it was Dallas’ ball because it was positioned on the same end of the floor as the Mavs coming out of the time-out.
“There were quite a few people out of position,” Kidd said. “It’s correctable, but first you have to admit there was a mistake.”
Dallas star Luka Doncic said he thought officials should have huddled when they saw the teams were at opposite ends of the court.
“I was surprised,” Doncic said of Looney’s undisputed dunk. “I thought, ‘What is this?’ I’ve never experienced that in my life.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he was initially confused when he saw the Mavericks lined up at the other end of the court, although he was confident his team had possession.
“Once they got down the other end, I had to stop and think, ‘Is that right?'” Kerr said. “I thought it was pretty clear it was our ball, so I designed an out-of-bounds play at the baseline.”
According to the NBA constitution, the Cuban must submit his protest in writing within the next 48 hours. After Commissioner Adam Silver receives the protest, the Warriors will be notified and each team will have five days to submit evidence supporting their case.
Silver will make a decision within five days of receiving the evidence. Cuban’s protest must also be accompanied by a $10,000 fee, which will be returned if the protest is successful.
The latest protest in the NBA was also filed by the Mavericks for their game against the Atlanta Hawks on February 22, 2020. The Mavericks lost the protest.
The last successful protest in the NBA came in January 2008.
Wednesday’s loss dropped Dallas to 36-37, ninth in the Western Conference. The Mavericks would have moved up to sixth place with a win ahead of the Warriors, who are now 38-36.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.