It was a long shot when the Knicks filed it, it was more of a statement of frustration than anything else.
It was about the Feb. 12 game between the Knicks and Rockets. The score was tied with 0.3 seconds when referees whistled the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson for fouling the Rockets’ Aaron Holiday on a desperation one-armed heave from 3. It was obviously a bad call the moment it happened, but the Knicks didn’t have a challenge left, the call stood, Holiday hit free throws, and the Rockets won.
Oh there’s contact. But it’s coincidental. Holiday forearm also meets Brunson.
— Alan Hahn (@alanhahn) February 13, 2024
But forget all that, who blows this whistle on a chuck and duck from 35 feet?
Just go to OT.
pic.twitter.com/W4mFdRPEEP
After the game, crew chief Ed Malloy acknowledged the call was wrong, as did the NBA’s Last Two Minute report the next day. So the Knicks filed a formal protest. Wednesday the league shot it down.
The following has been released by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/zdF29Swrva
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) February 28, 2024
The league only grants a protest in a case where the referees misapply a rule (for example, the last granted protest was in 2008 when Shaquille O’Neal was said to have fouled out of a game when he only had five fouls, the end of that game was replayed later). What happened to the Knicks was human error and a bad call, but not a misapplication of a rule. Also, granting this would set a bad precedent for the league. Every season a handful of games are decided on blown late calls — like the missed call that benefited the Knicks against the Pistons this weekend — and replaying them would become a logistical nightmare.
Teams rarely file protests knowing they will not be grated. The Knicks felt the need to make a statement, but the outcome was expected.
