It was one of the strangest games in recent years in the NBA. And for her, the Dallas Mavericks they raised a formal protest to the leagueseeking to play part of the game they ended up losing to Golden State Warriors 127-125.
What exactly happened and how reasonable is the Dallas protest? Details below.
The Mavericks-Warriors feud, explained
With two minutes left in the third quarter, the Warriors led 88-87 and after a missed 3-pointer by Anthony Lamb, Kevon Looney fought for the offensive rebound (with a clear foul on Luka Doncic) and ended up getting it after a road detour to Justin Holiday.
The referee standing on the end line, Andy Nagy immediately pointed out that the ball belonged to Golden State. However, since Dallas had requested a end of timejust finished indicating collection of possession, Nagi pointed in the opposite direction. (where the Mavs bench is located), calling the timeout called by Jason Kidd and company.
A few stories about the Mavs-Warriors episode that will be discussed:
rimessa clearly dates golden state and then comes the appropriate timeout for dallas. Obviously, the mistake was born here.
Ció detto (and also said that quello di Looney su Doncic sabrbe failed)… pic.twitter.com/CesPpteZrZ
—Andrea Lamperti (@a__lampe) March 23, 2023
The signage was slightly confusing. Even Looney himself believed that Nagy had changed the starting lineup, giving possession to Dallas. These types of modifications occur frequently in any basketball game: an official calls possession on one side, immediately regrets it, and points to the other. However, this was not the case here: there was a possession charge (for Golden State) and then a timeout.
What followed was the The most single of Kevon Looney’s career: replacing Jordan Poole and defining the interior of the Warriors, completely free. The five players from Kerr’s team were on the Dallas court, while the five Mavericks were lined up on the other side.
Mavs defend the wrong basket, Warriors get a free bucket 😅 pic.twitter.com/XaxKxI3dpG
—SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 23, 2023
After the match, which ended with more confrontations and accusatory gestures from Luka Doncic towards the referees, Dallas took the protest to the leaguearguing that the action was a consequence of a dietary error. However, the Texans’ argument has very little support.
The Dallas Mavericks plan to file a formal protest with the NBA over their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors tonight, focusing on the alleged ref error that led to two free points by the Warriors late in the third quarter, source says . @TheAthletic @stage.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 23, 2023
Initially, there was no error in the referee’s signal. Was it confusing? Could. But not wrong. Second and more important: if Dallas thought it owned the possession at the start of the timeout, even so they were wrong in their position in the opposite field. And it is that the dead time came after a ball outside the end line and not by conversion, so according to NBA rules, the ball must be replaced from his own end line (in this case, the one from the Mavericks field). It cannot proceed as in other situations.
I mean, even if the Mavs had thought it was their turn to make amends, they should have been placed in their own halfwhich would obviously prevent Looney from being converted to freedom.
Obviously, there were two factors working against Dallas that would surely make their protest unsuccessful: a slightly confused marking by the referee, followed by a misunderstanding the Mavericks coaching staff and players, ignoring the league’s substitution rules. The result? Two bonus points for the Warriors in a key game that Golden State ended up winning by just two points.
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA or its organizations.
