The Knicks raised concerns over the outcome of the game after…
The New York Knicks’ official protest of the Feb. 12 game against the Houston Rockets was officially rejected by the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Wednesday, confirming the team’s 105-103 loss.
The Knicks raised concerns over the outcome of the game after Jalen Brunson was charged with a shooting foul in the final moments of the tied interconference matchup. The crew chief for the game, Ed Malloy, later acknowledged that Brunson should not have been penalized, prompting the Knicks to file a protest with the NBA.
Brunson’s foul resulted in Aaron Holiday going to the free-throw line, where he made the winning shots in a narrow victory. The NBA, in its statement, explained that the Knicks failed to prove a genuine misapplication of league rules, rather than a mere lapse in judgment, and thus further action was denied.
“The Knicks protested the result of the game on the ground that a shooting foul was called incorrectly on the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson for making contact with the Rockets’ Aaron Holiday during a last-second shot attempt,” the NBA statement stated. “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.”