Chron Sources: Rockets to file protest of loss to Spurs

Also a good learning lesson for the officials to just check the replay in the next timeout and fix the score during the game, rather than letting the whole thing become a big fiasco.

Honestly, who complains if they just check the monitor and make the correct call? Why is that so hard?

 

Or, why couldn't Secaucus just call in and say add 2 points to the scoreboard?

It was a clear (missed) basket. This wasn't a judgement call missed. A quick call could've avoided all this mess and that reply center just left that crew out to dry.

 

From the NBA's perspective the question is why was D'Antoni's challenge of the play not accepted when he claimed he was making the signal before his 30 seconds had expired. If D'Antoni missed a part of the challenge procedure, then game over - Rockets lose but I doubt Houston would bother protesting if D'Antoni messed up procedurally. They must feel they have a legit "misapplication of rules" here meaning the refs didn't let them challenge or there was confusion on both sides on what the procedure for challenging was. In that case, you can only either replay the game where the "misapplication of rules" occurred(most fair, but also most costly) or you can just process Houston's challenge after the fact giving Houston the bucket and thus the win. I don't see how the 11.4 seconds scenario can be an outcome here.

If Houston has to replay the last 7 minutes it would be complicated I would imagine. I would suppose that would be done on April 12th(3rd to last game of season) when the Rockets play in the AT&T center again(so Spurs continue to have the home court advantage) and the league would probably also have to rule on whether the players who were unavailable during the original contest(Aldridge, Eric Gordon, etc) would be available for this one...also gotta figure that tanking strategies, future injuries, and pre-playoff rest would factor heavily into a game that would essentially be an overtime day at the office even if both games end in regulation....even if Houston "wins" the right to play again, it would put Houston in an awkward situation that they wouldn't want to be in by extending the minutes of their stars a week before the playoffs start. I suppose if there were one other option here, it would be that Houston and San Antonio play the 7 minutes out during the All Star break somewhere in San Antonio but again, this seems fairly far fetched. In any case it's choosing between a bunch of poor scenarios that negatively impact seemingly everyone involved.