On Feb. 12, the New York Knicks filed a protest to contest their 105-103 defeat against the Houston Rockets. The Knicks attributed their loss and subsequent protest to a foul call on point guard Jalen Brunson against one of the Rockets’ point guards Aaron Holiday that left the former Mavericks guard and head coach Tom Thibodeau in shock.
As a result, the Rockets were granted two free throw shots that broke the 103-103 tie to end the game with a 2-point lead. They claim that the foul was called incorrectly and referee Ed Malloy asserted that the Rockets had no grounds for a foul at the time due to minimal contact between the two guards. However last night, the league officially rejected their protest.
After contesting the final 105-103 score against the Houston Rockets in a rare protest of the NBA’s final results of their Feb. 12 game, the New York Knicks’ filing has been officially struck down by the league.
NBA Reject The New York Knicks Protest After Feb. 12 Rockets Loss
About as bad as it gets for the Knicks….on this questionable foul callpic.twitter.com/J7JMbOjqxR
— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) February 13, 2024
“The Knicks protested the result of the game on the ground that a shooting foul was called incorrectly on the New York Knicks Jalen Brunson for making contact with the Rockets’ Aaron Holiday during a last-second shot attempt,” the league officially noted in a statement in response to their rejection. “Under the standard for NBA game protests, New York was required to demonstrate that there was a misapplication of the official playing rules, as opposed to an error in judgment by game officials.”
“Because the foul call at issue reflected an error in judgment, New York did not demonstrate a misapplication of the playing rules, and the extraordinary remedy of upholding a game protest was not warranted.”
For those curious, the last successful basketball protest took place on Dec. 19, 2007, when the Miami Heat faced off against the Atlanta Hawks in the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA. The protest was over the six fouls lobbed at Shaquille O’Neal. The Heat believe he was only culpable of five. The league agreed and their claim was validated. The NBA granted the two teams a rematch of the final 51.9 seconds of overtime the following year on March 8, 2008. This New York Knicks team hoped to see a similar result.
@clutchstories NBA game that lasted only 51 seconds ? #AtlantaHawks #MiamiHeat #ShaquilleONeal
In the days leading up to the match, a surprising upset would befall the Heat. Not only would Shaq go on to be traded to the Phoenix Suns, but this happened. The Hawks went on to win the rematch. This also happened without either team sinking a single bucket.
Shortly after rejecting the New York Knicks protest filing took place. The NBA also fined the New York team $10,000 due to the unsuccessful protest.
About the Author
Michael Omoruan is a New York native who often watches Knicks, Mavs, Giants, and Patriots games. He watches the occasional film and shows when he can, mostly those in the realm of science fiction or action/adventure. You can follow him on Instagram @MrMikeOmar and for more great content, visit us on X @TotalApexSports.