Portland Trail Blazers file a rare PROTEST to the NBA challenging the result of their loss vs Oklahoma City Thunder, after coach Chauncey Billups claimed he was denied a crucial late timeout: ‘It’s just frustrating’

The Portland Trail Blazers will reportedly file a protest with the NBA to challenge the outcome of their controversial loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Portland suffered a 111-109 loss to Oklahoma on Tuesday night, with small forward Jalen Williams winning the game for the hosts in the final two seconds at Paycom Center.

Yet according to ESPNthe Trail Blazers are filing a rare protest with the league after being left irate with a double dribble on guard Malcolm Brogdon with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Coach Chauncey Billups claims he clearly tried to call for a timeout on the sideline when Brogdon was penalized for the double dribble violation, but he was ejected from the game after walking onto the field to voice his frustrations to make.

Jalen Williams’ game-winning shot in the final seconds clinched a 111-109 win for Oklahoma

But furious Portland coach Chauncey Billups claimed he tried to call a timeout when Malcolm Brogdon (right) was penalized beforehand for a double dribble.

“We have timeouts,” Billups said after the game. ‘Referees are usually prepared for that, that case, that situation.

“I’m at half court trying to call a timeout. It’s just frustrating. My boys played too hard for that. It’s a frustrating game.’

According to an interview with the Pool Report, crew chief Bill Kennedy claimed that Billups was not given a timeout because it was “difficult” to hear his request while he was focused on the game at hand.

“The referee in the final position was refereeing the doubles team directly in front of him, which makes it difficult for No. 1 to hear and No. 2 to see a coach behind him calling for a timeout,” said Kennedy.

‘He has learned to guide the game to the end, where a double dribble takes place, and he calls the double dribble correctly and from that the technical errors emerge.’

NBA teams have 48 hours after a game to file an official protest. This costs $10,000 and is refundable if successful. They will then have five days to provide evidence of the protested action before the league makes a decision in a further five days.

Billups was ejected from the match, but Portland will now file a protest challenging the outcome

There have only been 44 known protests in NBA history, only six of which proved successful.

Only one protest has been accepted in the league since the 1982-83 season, when Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal was wrongly deemed to have had six fouls when he actually had five during a December 2007 game against the Atlanta Hawks.

The match eventually resumed three months later, but neither team scored in the remaining 51.9 seconds of overtime as the Hawks won 114–111.

O’Neal had also been traded to the Phoenix Suns by the time the game finally resumed.