The New York Knicks were robbed of an opportunity to win a game on Monday night against the Houston Rockets by NBA-assigned referee Jacyn Goble. And while the Knicks filed a formal protest with the league over the call and its impact on the outcome of the game, the real injustice is about much more than one game. It’s about playoff seeding and how this loss might impact the Knicks’ post-season seeding.

The call made by Goble on Jalen Brunson for fouling Aaron Holiday with .3 seconds remaining became an even bigger controversy when referee crew chief Ed Molloy acknowledged that the call should not have been made. And the NBA’s last two-minute report confirmed Molloy’s assessment. 

“In live action it was felt that the lower body contact was illegal contact,” Malloy told the pool reporter. “After seeing it during postgame review, the offensive player was able to return to a normal playing position on the floor. The contact which occurred after the release of the ball therefore is incidental and marginal to the shot attempt and should not have been called.”

Despite the league's admission, it is unlikely that the protest will be successful, as only six protests have ever been successful. And the simple fact that Houston and New York do not play again makes it difficult to imagine how an overtime period would be played if the protest were successfully upheld. 

Current Standings

Either way, the loss dropped the Knicks to 33-21, which is good for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks are presently 1.5 games behind the third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks (35-19). And they are only one-half game ahead of the fifth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers (32-21). For what it’s worth, only four games separate the 6-8 seeds, too.  

Granted, it is only February and New York has 28 games remaining. But assuming New York gets healthy and continues its winning ways from January, it’s fair to expect a tight race between New York, Milwaukee, and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2-4 seeds. Conversely, if New York continues to struggle, as it has in the recent past due to an insurmountable number of injuries, the Knicks might be competing with the 76ers, Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, and Miami Heat for the 5-8 seeds. 

One game will likely impact playoff seeding

In 2022-23, the East was fairly spaced in terms of how many games separated playoff teams. But in the West, only one game separated the fourth and fifth seeds. The fifth and sixth seeds had identical records. Further, only one game separated the sixth and seventh seeds, and another one game separates the seventh and eighth seeds. If that weren’t complicated enough, the eighth and ninth seeds also ended with identical records.

To make a long story short, every win counts. Hence why suffering a loss as a direct result of referee error is inexcusable. Human error is obviously a part of refereeing all professional sports. But flat-out unfair when it impacts a team's chances at advancing deep into the playoffs, as it did on Monday.

For the Knicks, securing the third or fourth seed means only one round of home-court advantage. Falling below fourth means no home-court advantage in any playoff series. Comparatively, securing the second seed means two rounds of home-court advantage — and New York is presently three games behind the second-seeded Cavaliers. New York is 19-8 at home, and only 14-13 on the road.

While the Knicks have more to worry about than a single game in mid-February  (e.g., getting Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Isaiah Hartenstein, Donte DiVincenzo, and Mitchell Robinson healthy), the fact of the matter is that every game counts in playoff seeding. And while lower seeds (and even play-in teams like the Miami Heat) have experienced success in the recent past, no team seeded lower than the third has won an NBA championship since 1995 (Houston Rockets). So, if the Knicks hope to compete for an NBA title this year, Monday's loss means there is even more work to be done. And realistically, no challenge is going to change that.