The Portland Trail Blazers are holding a protest to contest the outcome of their 111-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder due to a referee error.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Trail Blazers claim their head coach Chauncey Billups called a timeout before Portland was penalized for a double dribble.
With Portland leading 109-108 with 15.6 seconds on the clock, the Trail Blazers claim Billups attempted to call a timeout that was not granted by the referees.
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The Trail Blazers were then called for a double dribble that infuriated Billups, who received a double technical and was ejected from the game.
Head referee Bill Kennedy said after the match that Billups was ejected because he made contact with the official.
The Thunder made one of two technical free throws to tie the score at 109 with 15 seconds left, then got the ball back for the game-winning attempt.
Thunder forward Jalen Williams would knock down a mid-range jumper to give his team the lead with two seconds on the clock before Portland turned the ball over on their next possession, effectively ending the game.
Despite the unlikelihood of the league overturning the result, the Trail Blazers still shot at the protest.
“It’s a difficult situation. We had some timeouts and the referees are normally prepared for that,” Billups said in his post-match statement.
“I’m at half court and I’m trying to call a timeout… It’s just frustrating, my guys are playing too hard for that.”
The Thunder were aiming for first place in the Western Conference after Minnesota’s surprise loss to Charlotte on Tuesday.
Even if they were not convincing against the modest Trail Blazers, and perhaps a little lucky, this victory propels Oklahoma City to first place in the West.
Two Australians faced off: Portland’s emerging rookie Duop Reath and Thunder point guard Josh Giddey.
Reath entered the Thunder clash averaging over 15 points and seven rebounds in January, and he was once again very good off the bench, scoring 10 points on 3/5 shooting and adding four rebounds and three assists.
His play of late has given Billups something to think about moving forward, with Reath once again outplaying starting center Deandre Ayton (five points).
Giddey, meanwhile, was relatively calm, recording seven points, five rebounds and three assists in his 25 minutes on the court.
Knicks beat crosstown rivals in Nail Biter
This one wasn’t an epic Nets collapse.
A regular old model was enough.
Brooklyn had another late lead with two minutes remaining, but coughed it up in a 108-103 loss to the rival Knicks before a crowd of 17,732 at the Barclays Center on Tuesday night.
The Nets (17-26) lost five of six and 11 of 13. The worst was Sunday, when they led by 11 before letting the Clippers score the final 22 points – matching the worst late-game implosion since the play-by- the game was preserved.
Tuesday wasn’t as bad, but it was bad enough.
After trailing by as many as 10 and 100-98 with 2:20 left, they allowed the Knicks a 7-1 run to see their rivals cross the East River with a stolen victory.
Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle each had 30 points to lead the Knicks.
Mikal Bridges, playing against four of his former Villanova teammates, was the best Wildcat on the court. He scored a career-high 36 points and shot a career-high 7 of 13 from behind the arc.
But it wasn’t enough.
Nic Claxon had eight points and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds.
And Cam Johnson came out of his misery with 19 points, hitting 4 of 6 from deep.
But he will regret the last one he took, a potential failure with Brooklyn trailing 106-103 and 6.8 seconds left.
“This is no shock to the Bucks team…” | 01:21
Fittingly, Randle grabbed the rebound and iced it.
Jacque Vaughn opted for defensive replacement Dennis Smith Jr. who extended the minutes rather than Spencer Dinwiddie, trying to slow Brunson down. That didn’t help.
After Brooklyn owned that series behind Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving — winning nine in a row at one point — the Knicks had won the last three by a total of 61 points.
It wasn’t that kind of game.
This one was a real headache.
But the Nets lost too many and add this to the list.
The Knicks improved to 27-17.
They’ve won four straight and 10 of their last dozen since acquiring OG Anunoby from the Raptors for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley.
The first half saw nine ties and three lead changes. Brooklyn has never led by more than five, the Knicks by more than four.
A 10-2 run to start the third opened a lead for the Nets.
A 3-pointer by Bridges off a Dinwiddie feed put Brooklyn ahead 59-52 just 1:52 in.
They padded the cushion to double digits.
Cam Thomas found Claxton for an alley-oop for an 81-71 advantage, and Bridges hit a mid-range pull-up to give the Nets an 83-73 lead with 38.1 seconds left in the third .
The Knicks cut him in the fourth.
Miles McBride’s 3-pointer got them within 87-83 with 9:04 to play, and this time Vaughn didn’t hesitate to call a timeout, quickly trying to stem the tide.
That didn’t help.
Precious Achiuwa’s dunk made it 97-96, and after Claxton lost the ball out of bounds, Randle’s layup gave the Knicks the lead with 3:57 left.
Dorian Finney-Smith’s 3-pointer in the left corner gave Brooklyn the lead back by two.
But Randle’s 3-pointer made it 101-100 with 2:19 left.
The bridges were only one of two on the line to tie it.
And after Johnson and Smith missed layups, it turned into a breakaway dunk for Randle the other way. Randle found Josh Hart for a dagger layup and a 105-101 lead with 25 seconds left.
Bridges hit a fadeaway to cut the lead in half. But after Brooklyn fouled Brunson, he sank both.
The Johnson missed 3 and iced it.
– This story was originally published by the New York Post and reprinted with permission
NBA SCORES – JANUARY 24
Knicks 108 @Nets 103
Trail Blazers 109 @ Thunder 111
Jazz124 @ Pelicans 153
Nuggets 114 @Pacers 109
Lakers 116 @ Mowers 127 (in progress)
