Mark Cuban Explains Bizarre Officiating Mistake That Led To 2 Free Warriors Points And Announces They're Protesting The Game Since The Mavs Lost By Two
Shoot, Dallas — if only you had two extra points to spare!
The Mavs and Warriors are both fighting for playoff seeding in the Western Conference, so every minute, every basket and every game carries a lot weight from here on out. Given those stakes, how can one explain Dallas' collective blackout and/or decision to let Golden State have two free points in the rare 5-on-0 micro-fast break scenario.
Or…was it a…dotdotdot…CONSPIRACY?!
Truth is I have no clue if there is some hashtag rigged qualtiies to the NBA. What I can say for sure is there was some kind of fuckery afoot based on what Mavs owner Mark Cuban lays out here:
Full quote:
"For those wondering about the play with 1:54 to go on the 3rd, let me explain what happened. The ref called Mavs ball. The announcer announced it. Then there was a timeout. During the time out the official changed the call and never told us. 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. Worst officiating non-call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA. All they had to do was tell us and they didn't."
Has anyone ever seen this before? That is a WILD mistake to make. Failing to inform the team of a changed call and then the other side getting an uncontested two points!? With everything that's on the line?
My initial reaction before Cuban's explanation was like…where is everyone's brain at? What was the confusion here? Did they think the ball went out of bounds off them? If so, they failed to have an inbounder as they all ran away. Such a bizarre scene.
One of my favorite parts of all this is the incredulous initial reaction by the two announcers throughout the whole debacle.
- "Yo, what is going on?"
- "They've decided not to guard their own basket!"
Aaaaaaaand it turns out, per Shams, the Mavs are filing a formal protest based on that officiating blunder:
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Just today Greenie posted about NBA officiating incompetence…and this very evening, here we are again!
Kyrie was out and Luka missed a couple tough shots down the stretch of Wednesday's matchup, as Golden State got just its ninth road victory of the season. One of the weirder facts of the NBA, that it's this late in the game and the Warriors have single-digit road wins. Seems so odd for a team that stayed pretty much intact and won a title so recently.
No, the final score wasn't exactly that tight since the Mavs hit a 3-pointer right before the final buzzer. Still though, those two points loomed very, very large at the end of the evening. Woof. Dallas is right to protest this shite.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok