"It was pretty clear that it was our ball": Steve Kerr admits he was confused at controversial play after seeing Mavericks players on the other side
The Golden State Warriors' 127-125 win over the Dallas Mavericks saw a major controversy going down toward the end of the third quarter. The Mavericks happened to be on the wrong side of the court after believing they had possession on the inbounds play.
However, the referees handed the possession over to the Warriors, which the Mavericks claim they were unaware of. The Dubs had the inbound on the offensive end without a single Dallas player defending that possession, giving the defending champions an easy deuce for Kevon Looney.
Here's the call Dallas claimed the referees called in favor of their team before handing the ball to the Warriors (via Warriors reporter Kylen Mills):
Here is video from @dieter of the lead-up to the alleged missed call that the Mavericks are reportedly protesting. Mark Cuban Tweeted out that it was initially called Mavs ball and then changed without notification, but it appears here to be Warriors ball. https://t.co/yOBB732cs1
Kevon Looney appeared to foul Luka Doncic on the play before one of Dallas' players swiped the ball out of the former's hands out of bounds. The official pointed toward the Mavericks' basket, which suggested that it was their ball. However, the call was overturned during the timeout without Dallas being informed about it.
Here's a clip of Golden State scoring on an open dunk attempt following that call (via Warriors on NBCS):
The Mavs forgot to play defense 😂 https://t.co/S6q9ByrTb7
Coach Steve Kerr shared his thoughts on the situation after the game, saying it was pretty clear that it was the Golden State Warriors' ball.
"It was my best ATO (after timeout) of the year," said Kerr (via Warriors on NBCS). "When I saw them [Mavericks] at the other end, I had to stop and think, 'Wait isn't this our basket?' 'Cause I had drawn up a play for a baseline underneath out of bounds...
"I don't know what happened, you'd have to ask their side, I thought that it was pretty clear that it was our ball. And that's why I was drawing up a play.... I guess they assumed it was their ball."
Steve Kerr runs through his thoughts on the Mavs being on the wrong side of the court during the bizarre ATO https://t.co/2bIID0z70m
The game was decided by a two-point margin, which was the eventual difference between the teams. It also dampened Dallas' chances of going top six in the standings, dropping them to ninth with a 36-37 record. Meanwhile, Golden State remained in sixth place, improving their record to 38-36.
Dallas Mavericks plan to file a formal protest after bizarre refereeing incident in loss against Golden State Warriors
Dallas isn't letting the alleged missed call against the Golden State Warriors go, as they plan to file a formal protest to the NBA. Here's what The Athletic's Shams Charania reported regarding this:
"The Dallas Mavericks plan to file to the NBA a formal protest of their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors tonight, with focus on alleged referee mistake that led to two free Warriors points late in the third quarter, source tells @TheAthletic @Stadium."
The Dallas Mavericks plan to file to the NBA a formal protest of their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors tonight, with focus on alleged referee mistake that led to two free Warriors points late in the third quarter, source tells @TheAthletic @Stadium.
The pool report suggests that the referees initially pointed toward the Warriors' basket as it was their ball. The referees pointed toward the Dallas' basket right after to note the mandatory timeout Jason Kidd's team exercised.