The Dallas Mavericks made one of the strangest plays you’ve ever seen in an NBA game tonight against the Golden State Warriors. Apparently, there was a method behind the madness and the Dallas Mavs are not at all happy with the way things turned out to hear the words of their owner, Mark Cuban.
Before anything else, here is the exact play in question:
The Mavs forgot to play defense 😂 pic.twitter.com/S6q9ByrTb7
– Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 23, 2023
It’s a pretty absurd situation, isn’t it? Well, apparently, the Mavs did not defend because they thought the ball was theirs. Dallas team owner Mark Cuban explained the confusion best in a tweet:
“For those wondering about the play with 1:54 to play at the end of the third quarter, let me explain what happened. The referee called Mavs ball. The announcer announced it. Then there was a timeout. During the timeout the referee changed the call and never told us. Then, when they saw us lined up like it was our ball, he gave it to the Warriors. He never said a word to us and they made an easy basket. An unacceptable mistake in a game won by 2 points. Perhaps the worst refereeing error in NBA history. All they had to do was tell us and they didn’t.” wrote Cuban in his tweet.
For those wondering about the play with 1:54 to go on the 3rd, let me explain what happened. The ref called Mavs ball . The announcer announced it . Then there was a timeout . During the time out the official changed the call and never told us. Then when they saw us line up as…
– Mark Cuban (@mcuban) March 23, 2023
To make matters worse, the Mavs ended up losing the game, by two points. A lot happened between the above play and the final buzzer, but it is very likely that the outcome of the game would have been different had it not been for this incident.
The Mavs aren’t going to let it go without making light of it. NBA guru Shams Charania reported after the game that Dallas intends to retaliate with the NBA through a formal complaint:
“The Dallas Mavericks plan to file a formal complaint with the NBA over their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors, with a focus on the alleged referee error that led to two easy points for the Warriors late in the third quarter, a source tells @TheAthletic @Stadium.”
The Dallas Mavericks plan to file to the NBA a formal protest of their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors tonight, with focus on alleged referee mistake that led to two free Warriors points late in the third quarter, source tells @TheAthletic @Stadium.
– Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 23, 2023
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