Knicks Protest Loss to Rockets After NBA Admits to Incorrect Foul Call in Final Seconds

The New York Knicks are filing a protest with the NBA regarding their Monday night loss to the Houston Rockets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The protest comes after an odd and anticlimactic ending to the game that saw the Rockets win in the final seconds thanks to an incorrect foul call.

With the game tied and the Rockets with the ball, Houston guard Aaron Holiday put up a shot as the clock was set to hit zero, and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson rushed out to contest.

Brunson was called for a foul, despite any contact between the two players looking fairly incidental. As soon as the whistle blew the entirety of the Knicks team reacted with shock that such a foul had been called.

"I don't see how you call a foul on that shot" - Mike Breen pic.twitter.com/5dA4LnWBrh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 13, 2024

After the game, crew chief Ed Malloy admitted that while he believed it to be a foul in real time, he recognized it as a bad call after seeing the replay.

The NBA’s last two-minute report further vindicated the Knicks’ on-court complaints, stating that the foul called on Brunson was incorrect.

Despite both the individual referee in charge and the league itself noting that the foul should not have been called, the Knicks still may face an uphill battle in their protest effort, as just six protests in NBA history have been upheld.

Should the NBA decide to uphold the protest, the Knicks and Rockets could meet again before the start of the postseason to play a five-minute overtime period and decide the ultimate outcome of Monday night’s game. For now though, the game stands as a Knicks loss.