The Dallas Mavericks will look to protest a bizarre sequence of their 125-123 Wednesday loss against the Golden State Warriors, team owner Mark Cuban told ESPN (h/t Tim MacMahon).
Dallas will file a report on the game’s play at 1:54 remaining in the third quarter, wherein Kevon Looney flushed an easy dunk as the Mavs were at the opposite court, wherein they believed it should’ve been their ball upon the initial call of the officials.
“During the time out the official changed the call and never told us,” Cuban said in his tweet. “Then when they saw us line up as if it were our ball, he just gave the ball to the warriors. Never said a word to us They got an easy basketball. Crazy that it would matter in a 2 point game.”
At the game’s pool report, crew chief Sean Wright denied the accusation made by Cuban as they handed a signal that it’ll be Warriors ball.
“Initially on the floor the original signal was in fact Golden State ball as this can be seen on video. There is a second signal but that signal is for a mandatory timeout that was due to the Mavs,” Wright clarified in the report.
With their intent, Cuban and the Mavs must file a written protest within 48 hours to the NBA. Once Commissioner Adam Silver receives the complaint, he will give both Dallas and Golden State five days to explain their case and evidence on the situation.
Cuban also has to pay $10,000 for the protest fee, and it can only be refunded should their complaint report become successful. Silver, for his part, will make a decision within five days of receiving the arguments of both sides.
Given the urgency of wins for the two teams, Cuban’s desire to protest his case for the Mavericks is understandable given that the matchup was intense.
With the defeat, the Mavs further crashed to the Western Conference standings, now ninth with a 36-37 record. The Warriors meanwhile moved up to the sixth place with their 38-36 win-loss card.
