Nuggets File Protest with NBA over 1-Point Loss to Grizzlies

The Denver Nuggets officially filed a protest with the NBA following their 108-107 defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday. 

USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt provided a statement from Nuggets president Josh Kroenke regarding the team's protest:

Grizzlies big man Marc Gasol scored at the buzzer to deliver Memphis the win.

However, the league wrote in Tuesday's Last Two Minute Report that the NBA Replay Center erred in awarding possession to the Grizzlies with 0.7 seconds remaining in the game.

The replay officials originally determined Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay touched the ball last before it went out of bounds. Upon further viewing after the game, though, the Replay Center found that Mudiay never touched the ball, which meant the Nuggets should have been awarded possession.

There's no guarantee Denver will win its protest, but there is a sliver of hope based on history.

In January 2008, the league allowed the Miami Heat to replay the final 51.9 seconds of a game against the Atlanta Hawks. Shaquille O'Neal fouled out despite earning only five fouls, so the game restarted at the time when he picked up his last foul.

The Hawks ended up winning both the disputed first matchup and the replay.

Before that, the last successful protest had come in December 1982.

Based on the slim playoff margins in the Western Conference, it's understandable that the Nuggets are doing everything they can to have Tuesday's result overturned.

One game separated the Utah Jazz from the eighth-seeded Houston Rockets last year, and the New Orleans Pelicans won a tiebreaker over the Oklahoma City Thunder for the eighth seed in 2014-15.

Tuesday's loss could have big consequences in the event that the Nuggets find themselves within a game of a playoff spot by the end of the season.