Mavericks and Mark Cuban to file protest after loss to Warriors

DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he plans to protest a two-point loss to Golden State after a confusing sequence led to an uncontested basket for the Warriors on Wednesday night.

Kevon Looney had an easy dunk on an inbounds play with the Mavericks lined up on their offensive end after a timeout late in the third quarter of Golden State’s 127-125 victory.

The Mavericks thought they had the ball after official Andy Nagy pointed in Golden State’s direction for possession but then quickly pointed to the Dallas bench to indicate a timeout.

Looney protested when Nagy pointed toward the Dallas bench, but Nagy appeared to explain that he was signaling the timeout.

The public address announcer also indicated Dallas was awarded possession.

After the break, the Mavericks lined up on their offensive end, giving Looney the easy dunk with no defenders around as the Warriors took a 90-87 lead with 1:56 left in the third.

Cuban said he planned to protest after posting on Twitter that he thought the sequence was the “Worst officiating non call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA.”

Dallas coach Jason Kidd’s contention was that official Michael Smith must have thought the Mavericks had possession because he was on the same end of the floor as the Mavs.

“There was quite a few people out of position,” Kidd said. “It’s correctable, but you first have to admit there was a mistake.”

The Mavericks were without All-Star guard Kyrie Irving because of right foot soreness and fell 1 ¹/₂ games behind the Warriors, who clinched the tiebreaker by winning the season series 2-1.

Irving’s absence meant he and Doncic have played together in just half of the 18 games since Irving’s debut after the blockbuster trade that brought him from Brooklyn.

Golden State (38-36) holds the final guaranteed playoff spot at sixth in the West.

Dallas (36-37) dropped to ninth — the third of four play-in spots.