News

NBA Refuses To Overturn Call In Knicks Loss To Rockets After Official Admits Mistake On Game-Deciding Foul

The New York Knicks filed an official protest to overturn a foul call which decided the result of their 105-103 loss to the Houston Rockets on February 12. In the five days after the game, the NBA did not overturn the decision.

If their protest was successful, the teams would have met to play one overtime period to complete the game. There have only been six successful protests in NBA history, and the last one was in 2007.

The controversy came into play with 8.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter, where the Rockets were inbounding the ball after a timeout. With the game clock about to expire, Rockets guard Aaron Holiday heaved up a long three-pointer which was heavily contested by Knicks star Jalen Brunson who was playing tight defense to try to prevent giving up any points that would cost them the game.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Brunson couldn’t believe it when the official called a foul after the game clock expired and Holiday’s effort missed.

In a tied game, Holiday would go on to knock down two of the three free throws and seal a narrow two-point win for the Rockets.

The Knicks are a much better team than the Rockets, but they were underdogs in this game being away and missing several key players including Julius RandleMitchell RobinsonOG Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein. The Rockets are also 20-9 at home this season.

Even the acknowledgment of a mistake from official Ed Malloy, wasn’t enough for the NBA to change anything.

“After seeing it during postgame review, the offensive player was able to return to a normal playing position on the floor,” Malloy said. “The contact which occurred after the release of the ball therefore is incidental and marginal to the shot attempt and should not have been called.”

Nobody enjoys seeing a game be decided by an ultimately incorrect call from the officials. It’s even more upsetting when the official admits his mistake, and the league still fails to do anything about it. Nonetheless, Brunson took a chance on closing out Holliday’s shot so aggressively, and he gave the officials the chance to make the rare call.

Nathan Weick

Recent Posts

Paul George Exits With Knee Injury As 76ers Fall To 2-12 In Loss To Grizzlies

With their big three finally back in action Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers suffered another setback…

6 hours ago

VIDEO: Nike Pays Tribute to Rafael Nadal With 30-Foot Projection In Front of Eiffel Tower

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tny--EWynOQ Nike paid tribute to Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal with a 10-meter-tall animated display…

24 hours ago

VIDEO: Rafael Nadal Gets Emotional Tribute as He Retires From Tennis

https://youtu.be/dtJoJz9hC48 Tennis legend Rafael Nadal bid a heartfelt goodbye to his devoted Spanish fans as he brought…

24 hours ago

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Fencer Eli Dershwitz Explains The Art Of Fencing

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DQ9Rxhnuer4 U.S. Olympic fencer Eli Dershwitz shed light on the critical skills necessary in fencing…

2 days ago

Two Bears Offensive Linemen Return To Practice, Caleb Williams Desperate For Blocking

Two offensive linemen for the Chicago Bears returned to practice, a massive step in the…

3 days ago

VIDEO: UFC Heavyweight Champion Performs Viral Trump Dance In New York

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s2g9t_33Myw President-elect Donald Trump received a warm welcome from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Jon…

4 days ago