Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly reacted to the NBA’s ruling late Wednesday, denying the team’s protest their 108-107 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 8.
“We are certainly disappointed with the league’s ruling,” Connelly said. “As the last two minute report clearly stated, the ball was not off of Emmanuel (Mudiay) and therefore should have been our ball. The league has done a fantastic job furthering transparency with these reports, and in this case the video review room in Seacaucus admirably admitted a mistake had been made. We were optimistic that we had made a strong enough argument for the league to take additional action. Unfortunately, the outcome wasn’t what we’d hoped.”
An incorrect call on possession of the ball with 0.7 seconds left in the game gave the Grizzlies, down by one, the opportunity to win at the buzzer, which they did on a shot by Marc Gasol.
A day later, the league admitted in its Last Two Minute report that the replay official made an incorrect ruling when he upheld the call on the court, that Emmanuel Mudiay touched the ball before it went out of bounds. The Nuggets protested the result.
Here’s why the protest was denied, according to a statement released by the league.
“The league determined that while the out-of-bounds call was incorrect, it was an error in judgment by the Replay Center official and not a misapplication of the playing rules – which is required under league rules to justify the extraordinary remedy of granting a game protest and overturning the game’s result.”
