Dallas Mavericks file protest over Hawks game: Will they win?

The Dallas Mavericks loss against the Atlanta Hawks on Feb. 23 set off owner Mark Cuban who officially fired a protest on Sunday. Will they win?

The Dallas Mavericks dropped the second of a back-to-back against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night. Both Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis sat out for Dallas. The Mavs got out to a big lead but faltered down the stretch resulting in a 111-107 loss.

The game ended on a bit of a wild play. Trae Young had his driving layup blocked by Dorian Finney-Smith. John Collins grabbed the ball and tipped it in with 8.4 seconds remaining to put the Hawks up by four. There was an inadvertent whistle after the block, though.

That is what set off Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. He sent out a series of tweets about the incident after the game which fans can see here.

On Sunday, the Mavs filed a formal protest according to Marc Stein. Read his tweets below.

If the Mavericks win, the final seconds will be replayed starting with a jump ball and about nine seconds on the clock. Will they be victorious in the protest, though?

Brad Townsend reported that only three have ever been successful, so the odds are not on Dallas’ side. They have a strong case here. An inadvertent whistle would stop play. If the ball was loose, it would result in a jump ball. The protest truly feels like it could go either way at this point.

Dallas Mavericks supporters will have to wait on Silver’s ruling. Hopefully, the Mavs get a second chance and can grab the win over the Hawks. There are a lot of moving parts here, though. Stay tuned to see how it all shakes out.