The war will be waged between Mark Cuban and the NBA regarding how to properly school referees and improve overall officiating after the Mavericks filed an official protest on Sunday about the final seconds of Saturday’s controversial loss in Atlanta.
The protest is for misapplication of rules after John Collins’ putback was deemed to count with 8.4 seconds left after an inadvertent whistle also had been blown.
The incident prompted Cuban to vent about the state of NBA officiating after the game, which can be found here:
Cuban: ‘Progressively worse’ officiating on display at end of 111-107 loss to Hawks
The NBA will review the protest, which is only the second one filed this season. Houston protested the end of a game earlier this season and that protest was denied by the league.
The protest will run its course.
What matters more right now is how the Mavericks gather themselves and focus on controlling what they can control. The beauty of the NBA is that it waits for nothing and no one. The Mavericks felt like they got robbed against the Hawks, but as usual with tough losses, a lot of things contributed to it, not just the tough whistle that went against the Mavs in the final seconds.
They can’t afford to dwell on it. They have a home game Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves and need to take care of their court, which hasn’t been easy this season, before they depart on a four-game trip.
Even Cuban, who lashed out at the NBA’s referee system and its management teams past and present after the 111-107 loss in Atlanta, knows that taking care of business now has to be front and center for his team.
He said that even before the Atlanta game.
“We got to win to hold our spot and hopefully move up,” Cuban said, referring to the tight Western Conference standings. “It’s not going to get any easier. The Western Conference is still the Western Conference.”
Presumably, Luka Doncic (right ankle soreness) and Kristaps Porzingis (injury recovery (knee) will return against the Wolves after sitting out against the Hawks. Unknown is whether Jalen Brunson (right shoulder sprain) will be back. He was knocked out of the Atlanta game after a hard foul on a layup 10 seconds into the game.
Cuban said he and fans have plenty of reasons to be upbeat about the final 26 games of the season. Mostly, the last two games Doncic and Porzingis have played together produced two victories in which they combined to average 58.5 points, 22.5 rebounds and 13 assists.
“Obviously, it’s exciting to see them play well,” Cuban said. “We’ve gotten kind of out of sync because they’ve both missed so many games. Our second unit isn’t quite in a groove the way it was before. When they’re clicking, it makes it easier for the second unit, too.”
Cuban and coach Rick Carlisle are adamant that the Mavericks will continue to do what they feel is the best course of action to ensure that Doncic and Porzingis are at their best and freshest when the playoffs roll around.
The Mavericks as of Sunday had a nine-game lead on ninth-place Portland. So making the playoffs shouldn’t be the issue.
Trying to move up in the jumble of six West teams clumped from seeds two through seven is the big priority. Only 4½ games separate the six teams. The Mavericks are seventh, and given that they are only 13-13 since Dec. 29, moving up is not a given.
But it has to be the primary focus, not worrying about one game where the officiating left them confounded.
Briefly: The Mavericks said there was no change in the status of guard Jalen Brunson on Sunday. According to the team, he still is listed as out with a sprained right shoulder. He dislocated the shoulder 10 seconds into Saturday’s game against Atlanta and did not return . . . Along with presumably a lot of teams, could have interest in veteran, oft-injured center DeMarcus Cousins, who was waived by the Lakers last week. Said Cuban: “We don’t have any roster spots. If we had an open roster spot, we’d probably do something. But we don’t. And there’s nobody we want to release.” . . . The Mavericks took a much-needed day of rest on Sunday. Monday’s meeting with Minnesota will be the third game in four days and they are very early in a stretch of 12 games in 20 days with no more than one day off between games.
Twitter: @ESefko
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