The Golden State Warriors took home a huge win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night. Golden State’s 127-125 victory came in a game where every basket mattered. That sentiment makes the free two points that the Dubs scored late in the third quarter, that much sweeter.
The Warriors inbounded the ball underneath their own basket, while the Mavericks lined up on the wrong side of the floor. This allowed Kevon Looney to throw down a wide-open dunk.
Here’s the sequence just before the bizarre ATO
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported shortly after the buzzer, that Dallas would be protesting the loss because of the confusing play.
“The Dallas Mavericks plan to file to the NBA a formal protest of their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors tonight, with focus on alleged referee mistake that led to two free Warriors points late in the third quarter, source tells @TheAthletic @Stadium,” Charania tweeted.
The Dallas Mavericks plan to file to the NBA a formal protest of their 127-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors tonight, with focus on alleged referee mistake that led to two free Warriors points late in the third quarter, source tells @TheAthletic @Stadium.
Head coach Steve Kerr fired off a few jokes on the butchered Mavericks defensive possession.
“Number one, it was my best ATO of the year,” Kerr joked via NBC Sports Bay Area. “It worked brilliantly, just the way we got organized and confused them.”
He later shared that he was a bit caught off guard when he saw the Mavs line up under the wrong basket.
“When I saw them at the other end, I had to stop and think, ‘Wait, isn’t this our basket?’ ‘cause I had drawn up a play for an underneath, baseline out-of-bounds [play],” “When they were down at the other end, I had to stop and think, ‘Is this right?’ so I don’t know what happened, you’d have to ask their side.”
Kerr then explained that he thought the situation was clear, and there was no reason for the Mavs to be confused.
“I thought it was pretty clear that it was our ball, that’s why I was drawing up a play out of bounds on the baseline. But they all lined up at the other end. I guess they assumed it was their ball.”
Steve Kerr runs through his thoughts on the Mavs being on the wrong side of the court during the bizarre ATO
Kevon Looney Jokes About Free Dunk in Warriors Win
Looney also joked about the play that netted him a free dunk.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” Kevon Looney told reporters via NBC Sports Bay Area. “I’m just glad JP passed it to me ’cause all of us were open, I needed that to get my double-double. So thank you JP.”
Loon wasn’t sure what happened on the ATO, but he’s happy with the points 😂
The big man did indeed notch a double-double in the win. He scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Dallas.
Stephen Curry Discusses Warriors’ Free Basket
Warriors star Stephen Curry discussed the Mav’s blunder as well. He explained that he didn’t notice anything confusing, saying that the play was pretty clear to him.
“I was on the bench and saw the ref point our direction for the ball and then point the other way toward their bench to call a timeout,” Curry told the media via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Loon actually got a little confused at first because he didn’t hear the whistle for the timeout. but after that, it was pretty clear that it was our ball.
Curry then joked that it was the easiest basket of Looney’s NBA career.
“[That was] probably the easiest two points Loon’s ever had and the easiest assist JP’s ever had. It was weird but it was clear what was going on from our standpoint.”
“It was weird, but it was clear what was going on from our standpoint.”
Steph shares his perspective on the odd ATO
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Warriors Joke at Mavericks’ Critical Mistake in Massive Win