Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images Portland is taking the controversy to the NBA. The Portland Trail Blazers are filing an official protest with the NBA, challenging Tuesday night’s 111-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team’s action is being reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. ESPN Sources: Portland is filing a protest with the league office to challenge result of 111-109 loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday. With 109-108 lead, Portland contends Chauncey Billups was clearly calling timeout prior to official whistling a Blazers double-dribble with 15.6 seconds left. Billups was assessed two techs and ejected. With 15.1 seconds to play and the Blazers up 109-108, Malcolm Brogdon was trapped in the frontcourt, prompting Head Coach Chauncey Billups to call a timeout, which wasn’t heard by the referees. Brogdon was subsequently called for a double dribble and Billups received two technical fouls for arguing, and making contact with, a referee. This resulted in an ejection. After the game, Billups described the incident as disappointing. “Tough situation, we’ve got timeouts - refs are usually prepared for that I’m at halfcourt trying to call a timeout and it’s frustrating... my guys play too hard for that.” “They didn’t deserve to have the game end that way - I feel bad for putting them in that position but I gotta stand up for my guys and I’ll do that every day of the week.” Malcolm is trying to call a timeout at the situation too... what else would he be trying to do? I just... man I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Referee Crew Chief Bill Kennedy said the referee in question was in a situation where it was difficult to hear Billups’ timeout. The referee in the slot position was refereeing the double team that was right in front of him, which makes it difficult for number one to hear and number two to see a coach request a timeout behind him. The Rose Garden Report’s Sean Highkin provided some context on the Blazers chances of winning the challenge. The last time a team successfully protested a game result was in 2008, when the Heat were granted a protest because Shaquille O’Neal was fouled out of a game against the Hawks when he actually only had 5 fouls. The next time the two teams played, they first replayed the end of the last game (Atlanta still won). There have only been eight successful protests in NBA history. The Blazers will face the Houston Rockets on Wednesday evening at 5:00 PM, Pacific. Source: https://www.blazersedge.com/2024/1/23/2 ... on-protest