NBA states Knicks did not demonstrate a ‘misapplication of the playing rules’
The NBA announced that the Knicks’ game protest of their loss to the Rockets earlier this month has been denied.
The league’s statement reads in part:
“The Knicks protested the result of the game on the ground that a shooting foul was called incorrectly on the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson … Under the standard for NBA game protests, New York was required to demonstrate that there was a misapplication of the official playing rules, as opposed to an error in judgment by game officials.
“Because the foul call at issue reflected an error in judgment, New York did not demonstrate a misapplication of the playing rules, and the extraordinary remedy of upholding a game protest was not warranted.”
New York filed the protest on Feb. 13, a day after the team’s 105-103 loss to the Rockets, when Brunson was called for a shooting foul on Houston’s Aaron Holiday during his last-second shot attempt.
With the score tied at 103, the foul allowed the Rockets to pick up the win.
The refereeing crew and the NBA acknowledged the foul was called incorrectly the week of the game, but as the NBA’s statement lays out, it doesn’t go above the human element of refereeing a basketball game.
If the Knicks were to win the protest, New York would have resumed the game against the Rockets in overtime at some point before the end of the season.
