As the final attempt of Danilo Gallinari bounced off the rim, star point guard Trae Young ripped out his mouthpiece and shouted to referee Josh Tiven, protesting a critical non-call on the final possession, which led to an Atlanta Hawks' loss, 118-117, against the Luka-led Dallas Mavericks.
In the final inbound play of the game, with 4.7 seconds in the clock, the Atlanta Hawks star point guard Trae Young had been knocked to the floor while setting a screen on the center of the Mavericks Willie Cauley-Stein, which hindered Young from getting the final shot as designed in their final supposed game-winning play.
According to ESPN, Young shared that he will not run away from the ball, especially with four seconds remaining on the clock as they are trying to win the game.
The star, who had 25 points and 15 assists in the Atlanta Hawks' loss, also emphasized that he is not going to fall at the end of the game, and that frustrates him the most, as he was not able to have an opportunity in making a play that could put his team ahead before the buzzer.
The referee who Young yelled at, Tiven, who is also the crew chief, shared to a pool reporter that the contact from Willie Cauley-Stein was deemed incidental, which is why he did not blow his whistle at the final sequence of the game.
Tiven even mentioned that they had played the video of the play during the postgame period that the whole officiating crew came up to a similar conclusion.
The head coach of the Atlanta Hawks, Lloyd Pierce, strongly disagreed on the non-call, pointing out that a foul should have been called before the ball was inbounded, Clutch Points reported.
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He also added that the contact made before the inbound would have resulted in a free throw for Young plus a ball possession, which will give them the upper hand in the game.
The Hawks head coach also stated that it is really unfortunate that the game ended that way. He also mentioned that there is also a possibility that Young could have been called for an illegal screen.
Also, Pierce stated that Trae's perfect screen as Cauley-Stein ran over, and that is a foul because it put Trae on the floor.
Pierce also shared that it blew up their play.
On the other hand, Dallas Mavericks main man, Luka Doncic, who will always be linked to Trae Young due to their involvement in a 2018 draft-night trade, dropped his seventh triple-double of the season with 28 points, ten rebounds, and ten assists as he led the Mavs to pull off their biggest comeback win of the season so far, as they rallied their way back from a 13-point deficit, The Score reported.
Even Willie Cauley-Stein did only performed in the defensive end as he put up 14 points, six rebounds after he came off the bench.
The Atlanta Hawks' loss put the Young-led team to the 8th spot in the East.
