Despite admitting blown call, NBA denies Nuggets' protest over loss to Grizzlies

Angles reviewed in the Replay Center appeared to show Mudiay (DEN) touch the ball prior to it going out of bounds. The call on the floor was therefore confirmed as MEM possession. However, upon review of an additional angle postgame, it was determined that Mudiay did not touch the ball and possession should have been awarded to DEN.

“The replay center failed us. We lost a game, and granted, we did a lot of things during that game that did not help us win. But when it comes down to a review by the replay center to determine whose ball it is, and the ball is awarded to Memphis when it should have been awarded to us, and they therefore take advantage of the situation to score, that’s a very tough pill to swallow.

“Obviously we’re looking at every and any way to see what our options are moving forward, to see if there’s any way to change the outcome of the game, to replay the final 0.7 seconds of the game, whatever it may be. Certain calls are not reviewable … but out of bounds and possession is one of the things they spend a lot of time on at our head coaches meetings and GMs meetings, talking about how effective and great the replay center is. Well, it wasn’t that great the other night, and I feel bad for our guys because we did enough to win that game, and we didn’t because of an error made in Secaucus.”

Last night, Coach Malone notified [Nuggets general manager] Tim Connolly and myself that the NBA officiating report acknowledged an incorrect call in our November 8th contest against the Memphis Grizzlies with 0.7 seconds remaining in the game and the Nuggets ahead 107-106. The ruling on the floor and subsequent video review resulted in Memphis incorrectly being awarded possession and scoring a game-winning basket on the final play.

There are numerous plays over the course of a game that impact the eventual outcome, including some incorrect foul call and judgment calls that affect each team throughout. Officiating a professional game in any sport is an incredibly difficult and highly scrutinized job, and we feel the NBA undoubtedly has the best basketball officials in the world.

Commissioner [Adam] Silver has done a fantastic job championing league transparency and accuracy for teams and fans alike with the addition of in-game video review and the NBA’s Instant Replay Center. However, in this case, a reviewable non-judgment call regarding possession was not sufficiently reviewed, and considering the time and score, we feel as if the incorrect ruling had a direct impact on the final outcome of the game.

The league found that the Replay Center official confirmed the call made by the on-court officials after reviewing two angles of the play that appeared to show Mudiay touching the ball. In light of those angles, and in order not to further delay the game, the Replay Center official did not select additional angles of the play to review. Following the game, one of those angles made clear that Mudiay did not in fact touch the ball and that possession should have been awarded to Denver.

The league determined that while the out-of-bounds call was incorrect, it was an error in judgment by the Replay Center official and not a misapplication of the playing rules — which is required under league rules to justify the extraordinary remedy of granting a game protest and overturning the game’s result.

The league will review this matter from an operational standpoint to consider further improvements to the review process in order to reduce the likelihood of a similar error going forward.

The Heat protested the game because, with 51.9 seconds remaining in overtime, the Hawks’ scoring table personnel incorrectly disqualified the Heat’s Shaquille O’Neal – asserting that a foul committed by O’Neal was his sixth foul of the game, when in fact it was only his fifth. The error occurred because the Hawks’ Official Scorer mistakenly attributed to O’Neal a foul at 3:24 remaining in the fourth period that was actually called against the Heat’s Udonis Haslem.

NBA Commissioner David Stern found that the Hawks were grossly negligent in committing this scoring error, since they failed to follow league-mandated scoring procedures and failed to respond effectively when the members of the statisticians’ crew noticed the mistake. Because of this conduct by Atlanta’s personnel, Miami suffered a clear competitive disadvantage, as O’Neal – the Heat’s second leading scorer and rebounder that night – was removed from a one-point game with only 51.9 seconds remaining. Under this unprecedented set of circumstances, the Commissioner granted the Heat’s protest, and fined the Hawks $50,000 for their violation of league rules.