Sources — Blazers to protest loss to Thunder after ‘frustrating’ play،
The Portland Trail Blazers are filing a protest with the NBA to contest the outcome of their 111-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, sources tell ESPN.
The Blazers say coach Chauncey Billups — with a 109-108 lead — clearly called a timeout on the sideline before a referee called a double dribble on goalie Malcolm Brogdon with 15.1 seconds remaining in the period. fourth quarter in Oklahoma City.
In response, Billups reacted angrily to what he believed to be a failure to honor his timeout request. He was the victim of two technical fouls – including a second after walking on the floor to argue – and ejected in the final seconds of the match.
“We have downtime,” Billups said afterward. “The refs are usually prepared for that, you know, for that instance, for that situation. I'm on half court and I'm trying to call a timeout. It's just frustrating. My guys played too strong for that. It's a frustrating game.”
According to an interview with Billiards Report, crew chief Bill Kennedy said Billups was not given a timeout because the referee was focused on the play in front of him, making it “difficult” for him to 'hear and see Billups' request.
“The referee in the slot position was refereeing the double team that was right in front of him, making it difficult for #1 to hear and for #2 to see a coach call a timeout behind him,” Kennedy said. “He is taught to referee the game until the end, which results in a double dribble, and he correctly calls the double dribble, then executes [to that] technical errors appear.
The Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made one of two technical free throws to tie the score at 109-109, and Jalen Williams made a shot with 2.1 seconds remaining to secure the victory. Portland fell to 12-31 with the loss. The Blazers and Thunder play one more time this season – March 6 in Portland.
An NBA team has 48 hours to file a protest with the league office and five days to provide proof of the disputed action. After that, the league office has five more days to make a decision. A claim costs a team $10,000 and is refunded if successful.
The NBA has not supported protests often in its history — only six times, according to research from ESPN Stats & Information. The last time was December 19, 2007, when Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal was wrongly called for six fouls when he had only committed five. The match resumed on March 8, 2008, but neither team scored in the 51.9 seconds replayed after overtime. The Hawks won 114-111. Before the game resumed, O'Neal was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
