NBA upholds replay protest

NEW YORK: The Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks will replay the final 51.9 seconds of their December 19 game after the NBA upheld a game protest for the first time since 1982 on Friday.

The Heat protested a scoring error involving Shaquille O’Neal in the final seconds of a 117-111 over-time loss at Atlanta, a mistake NBA commissioner David Stern called ‘grossly negligent’. Because of the ruling, the game will be resumed with Atlanta holding a 114-111 lead with 51.9 seconds.

The replay will be staged and the game played to conclusion on March 8 at Atlanta before the next regularly scheduled meeting between the Southeast division rivals.
No NBA protest of a game had been granted since former NBA commissioner Larry O’Brien upheld a protest made by the San Antonio Spurs on December 14, 1982.

With 51.9 seconds remaining in last month’s encounter between the Hawks and Heat, the official scorer’s table incorrectly assessed O’Neal with a sixth personal foul, forcing him to leave the game on accumulated fouls.

But actually, it was only the fifth foul whistled against O’Neal, who had been incorrectly marked for a four late in the fourth quarter that was instead whistled against Heat forward Udonis Haslem.