Mavericks Will Not Formally Protest Loss to Pelicans Despite Missed Goaltend

Dallas decides to let the loss stand pat, despite what could've been a decent case.

Jan 15, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III (25) blocks the shot of Dallas Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie (26) during the second half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks were the recipients of a missed goaltending call in Wednesday night's loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Down by one point, Spencer Dinwiddie's layup attempt hit the backboard first before Trey Murphy III hit the ball off the backboard again, but no goaltending was called, and the Pelicans went on to win 119-116 after making two free throws at the end of the game.

Dallas could've contested the result with the league, but according to insider Marc Stein, they've decided against it. The NBA has only ever overturned a protested result six times in NBA history, with the last one coming in 2007. And while the NBA hasn't released the two-minute report from Wednesday's game, this play will be discussed in that report. Here's a look at the play again.

The Dallas Mavericks were down one point with four seconds left…

Refs gave Trey Murphy III a block for this obvious goaltend. Mavs couldn’t challenge and they lose the game.

If players and coaches can get fined, officials should receive fines too. pic.twitter.com/XaZfYdTnaG

— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) January 16, 2025

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Nico Harrison, the General Manager of the Mavericks, said in an appearance on 96.7 The Ticket on Thursday, "You can do an appeal but if you do it, you have to spend some money. It might make you feel good, but it's not going to change the outcome. Refs make mistakes. It's frustrating. ... It is what it is. You have to move on to the next game."

Appeals are also only ever changed in the misapplication of game rules, not just missing calls. The game that was overturned in 2007 was because Shaquille O'Neal was fouled out by the officials despite only having five fouls, not six. But with Harrison mentioning money first, it does make fans wonder if they would've filed an appeal if Mark Cuban was still the majority owner.

Jason Kidd believed the officials were "scared" to make the call, saying in his postgame press conference, "They didn’t see it. That’s the explanation. They didn’t see it…They didn’t do their job tonight…The league wants to get it right, the referees have a tough job, they clearly did not get that one right. It cost us the game…Hopefully, the referees can be better in close games…No one saw the goaltend but everybody was there.”

Dallas will instead move on with the loss and prepare for the OKC Thunder on Friday night.

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