Mavericks file official protest of loss to Hawks

The Dallas Mavericks filed an official protest of Saturday's 111-107 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the NBA's last-two-minute report confirmed Sunday.

Dallas believes the end of the game should be replayed with 9.7 seconds remaining, Atlanta leading by two points, and a jump ball taking place, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times.

The team is protesting John Collins' putback basket on the grounds that league rules should have prevented it from counting, Stein adds.

Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith was called for a goaltend on Trae Young's missed layup attempt but the play continued despite the initial whistle, allowing Collins to extend the Hawks' lead to four points. A subsequent video review of the play overturned the goaltending call but officials still allowed Collins' bucket to count.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban took to Twitter postgame to vent about the ruling. NBA spokesman Mike Bass said Sunday the league intends to wait on commissioner Adam Silver's ruling of the Mavericks' protest before potentially fining Cuban, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Tim MacMahon.

This marks the second official protest during the 2019-20 season after the Houston Rockets filed an unsuccessful protest of a loss to the San Antonio Spurs in December.

As part of the protest, the Mavericks are also asking the NBA to review the game's first possession that led to guard Jalen Brunson separating his shoulder, Stein adds.

Only three protests have been successful in NBA history, with the last one coming during the 2007 season in a game that coincidentally also featured the Hawks, according to The Dallas Morning News' Brad Townsend.