Mavs owner Mark Cuban plans to protest over free bucket for Warriors

DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he plans to protest a two-point loss to Golden State after a confusing sequence led to an uncontested basket for the Warriors on Wednesday night.

Kevon Looney had an easy dunk on an inbounds play with the Mavericks lined up on their offensive end after a timeout late in the third quarter of Golden State’s 127-125 victory.

The Mavericks thought they had the ball after official Andy Nagy pointed in Golden State’s direction for possession but then quickly pointed to the Dallas bench to indicate a timeout.

Looney protested when Nagy pointed toward the Dallas bench, but Nagy appeared to explain that he was signaling the timeout. The public address announcer also indicated Dallas was awarded possession.

After the break, the Mavericks lined up on their offensive end, giving Looney the easy dunk with no defenders around as the Warriors took a 90-87 lead with 1:56 left in the third.

For those wondering about the play with 1:54 to go on the 3rd, let me explain what happened. 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. Then when they saw us line up as…

— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) March 23, 2023

Cuban said he planned to protest after posting on Twitter that he thought the sequence was the “Worst officiating non call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA.”

Dallas coach Jason Kidd’s contention was that official Michael Smith must have thought the Mavericks had possession because he was on the same end of the floor as the Mavs.

“There was quite a few people out of position,” Kidd said. “It’s correctable, but you first have to admit there was a mistake.”