NBA Denies Rockets Protest After Terrible Call on James Harden Dunk Cost Them Game vs Spurs
By Michael Luciano
The Houston Rockets filed an official protest after a 135-133 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in double overtime, as they claim that the officials not awarding Houston two points on a James Harden dunk ultimately forced them into an overtime period, and cost them the game.
The Rockets' prayers were not answered by the league, as the NBA denied Houston's request to replay the game.
The NBA has denied the Houston Rockets' protest from last week
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 9, 2019
The league's decision was rooted in the fact that even though there might have been a flaw in officiating, Commissioner Adam Silver declared that the Rockets had "sufficient time to overcome the error" as the Rockets were leading 102-89 with 7:50 remaining in the game.
It's hard to argue against that, and this protest looks more and more like the Rockets grasping at straws trying to steal a win.
NBA statement on Rockets protest denied from Spurs loss on Dec. 3: “Commissioner Silver determined that the Rockets had sufficient time to overcome the error” when James Harden’s dunk, with 7:50 remaining and 102-89 lead, did not count. https://t.co/NJmXPK0Qa2
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 9, 2019
Now that the protest is officially dead and buried, the Rockets should probably spend more time figuring out why they blew a 13-point lead in eight minutes instead of trying to find a loophole to get bailed out on a technicality.