NBA denies Knicks protest of controversial game vs. Rockets

The New York Knicks filed a protest after their 105-103 loss to the Houston Rockets. Houston won when Aaron Holiday made two free throws with less than a second remaining, after a foul call on Jalen Brunson that officials admitted was made in error. 

After a blocked shot, Holiday was throwing up a desperation three-pointer and Brunson never touched him on the play.

But a referee's error isn't enough to hold up a protest. The NBA ruled that the Knicks needed to "demonstrate that there was a misapplication of the official playing rules, as opposed to an error in judgment by game officials." 

Since the play in question was merely a mistake by the officials, the NBA didn't need to employ an "extraordinary remedy" to correct the play. That remedy would have been making the Knicks return to Houston to replay an overtime period.

The NBA hasn't held up a protest since 2008, when Shaquille O'Neal was incorrectly ruled to have fouled out of a Dec. 19 game between the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks, after committing what was only his fifth foul of the game. 

The teams replayed the final 51.9 seconds of the game in March 2008, and no one scored, meaning Atlanta still won, 114-111.

It wasn't a perfect replay, since Miami still didn't have O'Neal available — he'd been traded to the Phoenix Suns a month earlier.

Before that, you have to go back to 1982, when San Antonio won a protest after a double-OT loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, and then won when the teams replayed the final three seconds, four months later. 

The Lakers got the last laugh when they beat San Antonio in the Western Conference Finals, with no protests or replays involved.

The ruling will cost the Knicks $10K, the fee for filing a protest. In most cases, teams would be better off putting that money toward a high-yield saving account or manufacturing bobble heads of the affected player.

Still, the league was smart with the timing of this announcement. They waited until the Knicks won a game after a missed foul call on Donte DiVincenzo let them escape with a win over the Detroit Pistons Monday night.

In effect, the NBA ruled that referees are human, and foul calls even out. That's valuable wisdom, even if it cost the Knicks $10K to find that out.