The NBA’s new “Coach’s Challenge” rule claimed its first victim on Sunday night, as the Dallas Mavericks suffered its first defeat of the season, 121-119, at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers following a challenge made by Terry Stotts.

Dallas came out of the short-stick of the decision after referees rescinded an initial foul called on Damian Lillard and changed it to a center-court jump ball instead. Kristaps Porzingis won the tip for the Mavs, but it fell to the hands of Portland’s Kent Bazemore.

Dallas, who was down by one and had no timeouts at the time, was forced to commit a foul and take a bad shot the following possession.

Per the league’s new guidelines, a coach can challenge any personal foul called against his team throughout the game and trigger instant replay review of a limited set of matter, including a personal foul charged to its own team.

The Mavs’ outspoken owner Mark Cuban addressed the situation shortly after the game and released a statement on his Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1188635596002156545

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Meanwhile, Dorian Finney-Smith, who received the foul from Lillard also shared his two cents regarding the controversial call.

“I really didn’t think it wasn’t a foul. But it is what it is. They overturned it and we’ve got to deal with it,” Finney-Smith said, via Brad Townsend of Dallas News.

“I mean, he fouled me on the rebound. “(Then) he slapped down, he had to come across my arm. And he also had his right hand on my hip. They’re the same calls they (the Blazers) get. I just probably should have sold it more.”

Dallas once again received big contributions from Porzingis (32 points) and Luka Doncic (29 points), but were unable to stop Portland’s second half rally sparked by Lillard and CJ McCollum.

 

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