The Oklahoma City Thunder were able to survive a scare by the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night, although it did not come without some controversy. With Portland up by one and less than 20 seconds on the clock, Malcolm Brogdon got trapped near midcourt, picked up his dribble, restarted it, and got hit with a double-dribble.
The problem, according to the Blazers, is that Chauncey Billups was attempting to call a timeout that just wasn’t given. In the aftermath of the double-dribble, Billups was unsurprisingly upset, which led to him getting hit with a pair of technical fouls that ended his night a little early. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit the free throw, Jalen Williams made a jumper on the ensuing possession, and the Thunder came out on top, 111-109.
Blazers HC Chauncey Billups was given two technical fouls at the end of the 4th, ejecting him from the game.
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— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) January 24, 2024
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Portland is going to attempt to do something about this, as the team plans on filing a formal protest with the league.
ESPN Sources: Portland is filing a protest with the league office to challenge result of 111-109 loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday. With 109-108 lead, Portland contends Chauncey Billups was clearly calling timeout prior to official whistling a Blazers double-dribble with 15.6…
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 24, 2024
“The referee in the slot position was refereeing the double team that was right in front of him, which makes it difficult for number one to hear and number two to see a coach request a timeout behind him,” crew chief Bill Kennedy said after the game. “He is taught to referee the play until completion, which a double dribble happens, and he correctly calls the double dribble and then pursuant (to that) the technical fouls come forward.”