Knicks file protest with the NBA to dispute Jalen Brunson foul call on Aaron Holiday

The New York Knicks are filing a protest with the NBA to dispute the final-second foul call during Monday night’s 105-103 loss to the Houston Rockets.

The NBA’s Last Two Minute Report and game crew chief Ed Malloy acknowledged Tuesday that the foul call on Knicks guard Jalen Brunson against Houston’s Aaron Holiday inside the final second was incorrectly called.

Holiday made two free throws with less than a second left on the clock, and he intentionally missed a third to run out the clock. The Knicks and Rockets aren’t scheduled to play again this season.

Extremely rare for a team to win a protest.

Last time a protest was upheld: Dec. 19, 2007

Shaquille O’Neal fouled out with six fouls and he only had 5.

Atlanta/Miami played the last 51.9 seconds of OT from when O’Neal fouled out. https://t.co/8rhqp1OMtg

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) February 13, 2024

However, the purpose of this protest is for New York to either resume a tie game with the start of overtime, or for the league to compensate the Knicks without adding a loss to the column.

A protest must prove the “misapplication” of a rule, not simply a missed call, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The NBA has not often upheld protests in its history — just six times, per ESPN Stats & Information. It should be noted that only one protest has been upheld in the last 41 years!

New York Knicks could become the first NBA team since the Miami Heat in 2007 to have a protest upheld

The last protest to be upheld was for a game that was played on Dec. 19, 2007, when then-Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal was incorrectly ruled to have six fouls when he had only five against the Atlanta Hawks.

Of course, the game was resumed March 8, 2008. Though, neither team scored in the 51.9 seconds that was replayed from overtime and the Hawks won 114-111.

Before the game was resumed, O’Neal had been traded to the Phoenix Suns. The Hawks also dealt four players for Mike Bibby at the deadline. The league allowed both teams to use players acquired since the disputed game.

In its Last Two Minute report, NBA says Jalen Brunson legally contested Aaron Holiday’s shot late in Knicks’ 105-103 loss to Rockets on Monday. In a pool reporter interview, referee crew chief Ed Malloy acknowledged after the game that the call on the floor was incorrect. pic.twitter.com/oOJtTPNQKK

— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 13, 2024

Shawn Marion, who came to Miami in the O’Neal trade, was in the Heat’s lineup. Marion played for two different teams on the same day, and he lost both times. He scored 23 points for the Suns in their Dec. 19 loss at Dallas. Plus, he played 52 seconds for the Heat.

At the time, then-NBA Commissioner David Stern ruled the Hawks were “grossly negligent” in their stat tracking during the December game. Stern later fined the team $50,000. NBA officials said it was “an honest mistake.”

Miami’s protest was the first granted by the NBA since December 1982, when then-Commissioner Larry O’Brien upheld a request for a replay by the San Antonio Spurs after their 137-132 double-overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 30.

San Antonio won 117-114 when the game was resumed on April 13, 1983. Pat Riley dropped to 0-4 in protest-replay games. He was coach of the Lakers during the 1982-83 season.