The NBA today denied the Dallas Mavericks protested their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors on March 22, 2023.
From the league:
A Mavericks protest ensured that, with about two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the officials did not manage an out-of-bounds call and an ensuing throw that was followed by an uncontested basket by Golden State. But the incident occurred with about 14 minutes left in the game, after which Dallas led twice in the final four minutes. In the circumstances, Dallas was unable to show—as required under the NBA Game Protests Standard—that it was denied a fair opportunity to win the game, and the protest failed on that basis alone.
After the game, Dallas Governor Mark Cuban posted on Twitter that the officials had originally awarded possession to Dallas on the play and then changed the call during timeout. These public statements were inaccurate, and in its written submission in support of its protest, Dallas accepted that the referee referred to the Golden State takeover.
The NBA concluded that while the game’s officials could have taken steps to better manage this particular situation, that did not provide a basis for the extraordinary remedy of supporting the game’s protest.