Refs admit to blown call on Harden's dunk, Rockets considering protest
The Houston Rockets are weighing whether to protest a controversial call made during the fourth quarter of their loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, a source told the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen.
With the Rockets enjoying a double-digit lead and less than eight minutes to play, James Harden appeared to score after stealing the ball for an uncontested breakaway jam.
However, the ferocity of his dunk caught officials off guard so much that they ruled Harden whiffed on the attempt.
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The Spurs would go on to complete their comeback, winning 135-133 in the second overtime, and leaving the Rockets to question if the missed call on the fourth-quarter bucket might have been a difference-maker.
After the game, crew chief James Capers explained the referees' thinking regarding the missed call.
"When the play happened, Harden goes in for a dunk, and then the ball appears to us to pop back up through the net," Capers told reporters. "When that happens, that is basket interference. To have a successful field goal it must clear the net.
"We have since come in here and looked at the play. He dunked it so hard that the net carried it back over the rim a second time, so in fact it did clear the net and should have been a successful field goal."
Capers also clarified that while the play is reviewable through a coach's challenge, Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni didn't challenge the call within 30 seconds during the ensuing timeout. Then too much time had elapsed when the longtime bench boss finally attempted to challenge the call.
To protest the result of the contest, a Rockets representative - the team's governor, alternate governor, or head coach - must notify the commissioner within 48 hours after the game, according to the NBA rulebook.
If the league takes the rare position of siding with the protesting organization, precedence dictates that the remainder of the game from the contested call onward would be replayed prior to the next meeting between the two clubs. In that scenario, the final 7:50 of Tuesday's game would be replayed on Dec. 16 in Houston, prior to the state rivals' second clash of the season.
If such a protest is lost, the Rockets would forfeit $10,000 to the league's treasury, and the result of Tuesday's game would stand.