It’s rare to see a play so absurd loom so large. But at the end of the third quarter, in a tight game that decided the season tiebreaker between the Warriors and Dallas Mavericks, we experienced that.
If you were watching on the ESPN broadcast, it was totally unclear what was going on. Before a timeout, it appeared it was the Warriors’ ball, with Golden State leading by a point.
When the broadcast returned, Golden State suddenly led by three, and the feed cut to shots of Mavericks Head Coach Jason Kidd arguing with referees.
Later, the broadcast revisited the situation. Before the timeout, a ball bounced out of bounds off a Mavericks defender next to Kevon Looney. The referee on the baseline indicated it was Warriors ball, then pointed towards the Mavericks bench.
The motion, though, looked like he might have been indicating it was Mavericks ball. Looney initially thought that’s what it meant, then appeared to get immediate clarification from the referee that he was indicating a Mavericks timeout.
In the pool report after the game, crew chief Sean Wright indicated that the miscommunication was a result of that gesture.
The Mavericks incorrectly assumed it was their ball, and a heads-up Jordan Poole (shown in the clip up top) found an also-aware Looney for a free score.
Kidd said he never received an explanation from officials for the call and wanted them to clarify whose possession it was so the Mavericks could set up on defense.
Because the game finished 127-125, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he would protest the result. In a tweet, Cuban called it the “Worst officiating non call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA.”
It’s a dramatic tweet from a dramatic owner, but perhaps more understandable given the stakes. Dallas would have leapfrogged the Warriors in the West standings with a win. Instead, they fell to 36-37 and the 9th seed, while Golden State, at 38-36, holds the 6th seed, and remains just clear of the play-in tournament.
