The NBA Denied The Mavs’ Protest Of Their Loss To The Warriors

The Dallas Mavericks‘ 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors last month featured a bit of controversy, as the Mavericks protested the result of the game due to an incident late in the third quarter that led to Golden State scoring an easy two points. As it turns out, their efforts to show that they were “deprived of a fair opportunity to win the game” came up short.

The league announced on Thursday afternoon that the Mavericks’ protest of the game was denied. In a statement sent out by the NBA, it was pointed out that there were “nearly 14 minutes remaining in the game” at the time the incident happened, and that Dallas “took the lead twice in the final four minutes.” And despite public statements from Mark Cuban that indicated otherwise in the immediate aftermath of the game, “in its written submission in support of the protest, Dallas agrees that the referee signaled possession to Golden State.”

During a media availability on Wednesday evening, Cuban expressed that he was “very confident” the NBA would say the Mavericks were correct to protest the game, even if he did not think the league would determine the end of the game needed to be replayed.