The NBA has denied the New York Knicks' protest of their 105-103 loss to the Houston Rockets on Feb. 12, the league announced Wednesday.
"Under the standard for NBA game protests, New York was required to demonstrate that there was a misapplication of the official playing rules, as opposed to an error in judgement by game officials," the league's statement reads.
"Because the foul call at issue reflected an error in judgement, New York did not demonstrate a misapplication of the playing rules, and the extraordinary remedy of upholding a game protest was not warranted."
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The Knicks filed a protest following their loss to the Rockets after the game ended on a foul call that officials later said was incorrect.
Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson was whistled for a shooting foul on Rockets guard Aaron Holiday from beyond the three-point line with seconds remaining in the game. Holiday went on to make two of three free throws with 0.3 seconds left on the clock to give Houston the win.
Crew chief Ed Malloy said after the game that no foul should have been called as the contact was "incidental and marginal to the shot attempt." The NBA also said in its last two-minute report that Brunson legally contested Holiday's shot attempt.
"Holiday released his shot before contact with Brunson and is able to return to a normal floor position," the L2M report states.
Even if the result was overturned, it wouldn't have put the Knicks much closer to contending for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. They are 11.5 games back of the first-place Boston Celtics, which will likely retain the top spot barring a drastic turn of events.
That said, New York remains within striking distance of the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, which are being occupied by the Cleveland Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks, respectively. The Knicks are just four games back of the Cavs and three games back of the Bucks.
The Knicks return to the floor on Thursday against the Golden State Warriors looking to improve to 36-24 on the year.
