The Portland Trail Blazers surrendered a three-point advantage in the last 30 seconds on Tuesday night, succumbing to the home team Oklahoma City Thunder with a score of 111-109.

Reports suggest that the Blazers are now hoping for the NBA to grant them a second chance. Portland is preparing to lodge a protest with the league, as per ESPN, contending that the referees made an error by not allowing a timeout before a critical turnover.

When the Trail Blazers were in the lead at 109-108, Portland’s Malcolm Brogdon advanced the ball over halfcourt but found himself trapped.

Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, positioned behind the play, attempted to signal for a timeout that was not granted, leading to Brogdon dribbling the ball again and subsequently being called for a double-dribble with 15.6 seconds remaining in the game.

Billups confronted a referee to argue and received a technical foul. When he continued to pursue the referee on the court, a second referee imposed another technical foul, resulting in Billups being ejected from the game.

Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made one of the two technical free throws to level the game, and Jalen Williams then made an 18-foot shot for the win.

Regarding the disputed sequence, Billups expressed his frustration, stating, “We’ve got timeouts. Referees usually are prepared for that, you know, that instance, that situation. I’m at halfcourt, trying to call a timeout. It’s just frustrating. My guys played too hard for that. It’s a frustrating play.”

Referee crew chief Bill Kennedy, speaking to a pool reporter, explained, “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.”

“He is taught to referee the play until completion, which a double-dribble happens, and he correctly calls the double-dribble and then pursuant (to that) the technical fouls come forward.”

According to ESPN, the Blazers will have five days to present evidence to the NBA regarding the protest, and then the league will have five days to issue a ruling.