As usual, the National Basketball Association announced last Tuesday that it has denied another game protest, this time it was Toronto Raptors' complaint of their 102-99 defeat against the Sacramento Kings last Nov. 20.
Toronto protested that game officials had an erroneous call for an instant replay review in an attempt to see whether Raptor Terrence Ross released a three-point shot, which could have sent the game into overtime, before the actual time remaining in the game expired.
The Replay Center official assessed the play using a digital timer and concluded that Ross' shot was released after the actual time remaining expired, making the supposed game-tying three-point shot not counted.
The league said that calling for the instant replay in that game coincided with the playing rules as officials found out there was a clock malfunction in the play, as reported by USA Today.
During the game, Ross' shot seemed to have beaten the buzzer as he released the ball with still .5 second left in the clock. But during the review, Kings' center DeMarcus Cousins deflected the ball first, meaning the clock should have started before the ball came into the hands of Ross. Officials decided that Cousins' deflection wasted enough time for Ross' shot to be waived off.
Last Nov. 23, the league denied the Denver Nuggets' protest in their 108-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 8 despite admitting that the officials' call was wrong, as per NBA.com. The Nuggets protested that game officials incorrectly gave the possession to Memphis with .7 left in the clock leading to a game-winner by Grizzlies center Marc Gasol.
The last time the NBA granted was seven years ago in a game between the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks in December 2007. The Heat won the protest but Atlanta still won the game when the fourth quarter was replayed in March 2008.