Mark Cuban, Mavericks' Protest of Loss to Warriors on March 22 Denied by NBA

The NBA denied the Dallas Mavericks' protest of their March 22 loss to the Golden State Warriors, though the league acknowledged the officials could have "taken steps to better manage this particular situation."

The Mavericks' protest was based on an inbounds play with 1:56 remaining in the third quarter. Dallas, seemingly believing it had possession of the ball, lined up on the wrong side of the floor and allowed the Warriors to score an easy basket.

Golden State would win 127-125, with those two points being the difference in the game. The matchup was critical in the playoff standings, as a victory would have moved the Mavericks ahead of the Warriors into sixth place in the Western Conference—potentially allowing them to avoid a play-in berth.

Mavericks governor Mark Cuban called the incident the "worst officiating non-call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA."

Crew chief Sean Wright denied Cuban's account of the events, saying the ball was always in Golden State's possession.

"There is a second signal, but that signal is for a mandatory timeout that was due to the Mavs," Wright said.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said there was also no confusion on his team's part.

"When they were down at the other end, I had to stop and think, 'Is this right?'" Kerr said. "... I thought it was pretty clear that it was our ball, and that's why I was drawing up a play out of bounds on the baseline."

There has not been a successful protest in the NBA since 2008. The Mavericks have filed the NBA's last two protests, with their last coming in February 2020.