In the final moments of the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans game, Spencer Dinwiddie was shooting a layup to put the Mavericks in the lead. Trey Murphy III blocked it, but it should have been a goaltending violation.
With the New Orleans Pelicans having the ball and leading by one point (117-116) with only a few seconds left on the clock, P.J. Washington stole the ball, and the Dallas Mavericks launched a fast break to get the lead.
The ball went into the hands of Spencer Dinwiddie whose layup was illegally blocked by Trey Murphy III.
The layup should have counted by goaltending because the ball first touched the backboard, and only then was it blocked. Dinwiddie and his teammates were furious.
The point guard is convinced that the block on his shot was illegal because the ball had already hit the backboard.
"It was just a scoop layup I take all the time. If you watch throughout my career when I beat the big or whatever, then hold out right here and put it directly on the glass for two reasons. One - I'm tall, I'm long, I'm extended, so you have to jump over here and block it."
"If you do happen to block, it's already in the glass. I'm scoring because it's either a layup or a goaltending. That's literally, I've made a bunch of money doing this same type of move," Mavs guard added.
Since referees didn’t blow the whistle, they couldn't review whether the block was legal or not. With no remaining timeouts, the Mavericks couldn't challenge the call.
"The referees have a tough job. This time, they clearly missed it, and it might have cost us the game," said head coach Jason Kidd.
This is the third loss in a row for the Mavericks as they drop out of the Top 6 of the Western Conference.
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