The Los Angeles Clippers secured a much-needed 128-118 victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday behind a career-night from Austin Rivers, who poured in 36 points and dished out seven assists.
L.A. was somehow able to withstand James Harden’s 51-point outburst, which was oddly his second consecutive 51-point performance in a loss as he posted the same massive point total against the Lakers on Wednesday. That game snapped a 14-game win streak for the Rockets, who have now dropped two straight.
But an officiating mishap toward the end of Friday night’s contest prompted the organization to submit an official protest with the league offices regarding their loss to the Clippers.
Via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle:
The Rockets officially filed a protest of Friday’s game in which a Los Angeles Clippers player should have been disqualified with 3:10 left, a person with knowledge of the protest said Sunday.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the move was not made public.
Clippers guard Jawun Evans committed a sixth foul, but it was incorrectly given to teammate Lou Williams. An NBA spokesman on Saturday confirmed that the league was aware of the error.
It’s unclear exactly how the league might choose to handle this. The NBA hasn’t upheld a protest since 2008, when they opted to replay the final minute of a game between the Heat and Hawks after the officiating crew had wrongly assessed a foul to Shaquille O’Neal that caused him to be disqualified.
They could also go the route of the problematic Last Two Minute Report, in which the referees association officially admits a mistake but does nothing to change the outcome of the game. Mostly, it’s an opportunity for the Rockets to vent frustration about dropping a second game in a row and possibly losing their grip on the top spot in the West.
