NBA denies Raptors' protest over loss to Kings

The NBA has denied the Toronto Raptors' protest of their 102-99 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 20, the league announced Friday.

Raptors guard Terrence Ross hit a game-tying 3-pointer as time expired to presumably send the game to overtime. However, a review of the play revealed the clock should have started running once the inbound pass was tipped by Kings All-Star DeMarcus Cousins.

Since the NBA's replay center determined that too much time had gone by between Cousins' deflection and Ross' shot, the officials elected to wave off the basket, thus awarding the victory to Sacramento.

The league sent out a statement via its last-two-minute report the following day siding with the referee's call at the time.