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The Portland Trail Blazers are reportedly set to file a protest to the NBA challenging the result of their controversial loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Portland suffered a 111-109 defeat to Oklahoma on Tuesday night, with small forward Jalen Williams winning the game for the hosts in the final two seconds at Paycom Center.
Yet according to ESPN, the Trail Blazers are filing a rare protest to the league after being left furious with a double-dribble call on guard Malcolm Brogdon with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
Coach Chauncey Billups contends that he was clearly trying to call for a timeout on the sideline when Brogdon was penalized for the double-dribble violation, only to be ejected from the game after marching onto the court to make his frustrations known.
The Trail Blazers are reportedly set to file a protest to the NBA challenging the result of their controversial loss to the Thunder
Jalen Williams’ game-winning sH๏τ in the dying seconds sealed a 111-109 win for Oklahoma
But furious Portland coach Chauncey Billups claimed he was trying to call for a timeout when Malcolm Brogdon (right) was penalized for a double dribble beforehand
‘We’ve got timeouts,’ Billups said after the game. ‘Referees usually are prepared for that, you know, that instance, that situation.
‘I’m at half court, trying to call a timeout. It’s just frustrating. My guys played too hard for that. It’s a frustrating play.’
According to a pool report interview, crew chief Bill Kennedy claimed Billups was not granted a timeout as it was ‘difficult’ to hear his request while focused on the play in front of him.
‘The referee in the slot position was refereeing the double-team that was right in front of him, which makes it difficult for, No. 1, to hear and, No. 2, to see a coach request a timeout behind him,’ Kennedy said.
‘He is taught to referee the play until completion, which a double dribble happens, and he correctly calls the double dribble and then pursuant [to that] the technical fouls come forward.’
NBA teams have 48 hours after a game to file an official protest, which costs $10,000 and is refunded if successful. They then have five days to provide evidence of the protested action, before the league makes a decision within another five days.
Billups was ejected from the game, but Portland will now file a protest challenging the result
There have only been 44 known protests in NBA history, with only six of them proving successful.
Just one protest has been upheld in the league since the 1982-83 season, coming when Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal was incorrected deemed to have six fouls when he actually had five during a December 2007 game against the Atlanta Hawks.
The game was eventually resumed three months later, only for neither team to score in the remaining 51.9 seconds from overtime as the Hawks won 114-111.
O’Neal had also been traded to the Phoenix Suns by the time the game was eventually resumed.
