Mark Cuban ripped the NBA refs who officiated his team’s Wednesday night game against the Warriors, accusing the crew of screwing up a critical call in a crucial game, potentially costing the squad a win (and maybe even a playoff berth), and now his Mavs are protesting the 127-125 loss.
The call in question went down in the waning moments of the 3rd quarter at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, when Warriors center Kevon Looney had an uncontested dunk on an inbound out of a timeout because the Mavs were lined up on the wrong side of the court, which Cuban blames on the refs.
“For those wondering about the play with 1:54 to go on the 3rd, let me explain what happened,” Cuban tweeted. “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.”
He continued … “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.”
Cuban called it the “worst officiating non call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA,” adding, “All they had to do was tell us and they didn’t.”
“There was quite a few people out of position,” Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s correctable, but you first have to admit there was a mistake.”
After the game, crew chief Sean Wright gave the refs side of the story, and they’re saying they didn’t do anything wrong.
“Initially on the floor, the original signal was in fact Golden State ball as this can be seen on video,” Wright told The Athletic. “There is a second signal but that signal is for a mandatory timeout that was due to the Mavs.”
And, sure enough, video seems to support what the officiating crew is saying.
Meanwhile, GSW coach Steve Kerr said he was confused when he saw the Mavs lined up on the other end of the court because he felt it was pretty clear the Warriors were getting possession of the ball.
Dallas’ loss to GSW could end up having massive implications on the playoffs … the Mavs fell to ninth in the Western Conference, as teams are still jockeying for position with only a few regular season games left on the schedule.
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