The Dallas Mavericks took on the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, and one brutal mistake by their defense certainly caught the attention of the NBA world.
Dallas had a complete and utter meltdown defensively in the third quarter. With 1:56 remaining in the quarter, Dallas forgot which basket they were defending coming out of a timeout on a Warriors inbound.
This resulted in the easiest basket of the season when Warriors guard Jordan Poole passed to Kevon Looney for an open dunk.
It’s hard to defend this for even the most passionate Mavericks fans. Many took to social media to complete blast Dallas for a complete lack of awareness in the game.
This would be a play that would come back to bite the Mavericks in the worst way possible. They played the Warriors extremely close all night but ultimately lost by two points after a three-point shot from Mavericks guard Reggie Bullock at the buzzer.
You would be hard-pressed to see this horrible blunder come in any level of basketball. However, there may actually be somewhat of an explanation for the massive mistake.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban took to social media after the game to explain the situation. He detailed that the call on the play was initially Mavericks ball which was ultimately reversed. The change was then announced across the arena by the announcer, but officials did not notify the Mavericks of the change.
https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1638726798698586116
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon tweeted a pool report of the play after the game which includes Crew Chief Sean Wright’s explanation for the call.
He surprisingly detailed that the initial call on the floor was Golden State ball and not Dallas ball like most believed.
You can be the judge, but it certainly appears that the initial call on the floor was Dallas ball when you look at the entire sequence.
Regardless of who is to blame between the officials and the Mavericks in this situation, it will be a hard blunder to live down for this Dallas team.
[The Comeback on Twitter] Photo Credit: ESPN
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.