The New York Knicks very nearly overcame overwhelming odds in Monday’s loss to the Houston Rockets. They trailed by as many as 16 points. They were playing without starters Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle and OG Anunoby as well as key reserve Isaiah Hartenstein, and they were on the road against a Rockets team that is 19-9 at home. Yet despite all of that, the Knicks came fractions of a second away from sending Houston to overtime. Instead, the game swung on one of the most controversial calls of the season. It’s a loss the Knicks are reportedly planning to protest.

The Rockets have possession in the closing seconds. Jalen Green tries to win it with a layup as the clock passes the three-second mark. Precious Achiuwa blocks it away, and it looks like we’re going to overtime. That is, until Aaron Holiday comes up with possession and throws up a prayer. Fortunately for Houston, Jalen Brunson aggressively closed out on the shot and was called for a foul. Replay review confirmed that the foul came before the clock struck zero.

Holiday went on to sink two free throws, and the Rockets escaped with a 105-103 victory. And yet, after the game, official Ed Malloy told pool reporter Fred Katz of The Athletic that the foul call was a mistake. “After seeing it during postgame review, the offensive player was able to return to a normal playing position on the floor,” Malloy said. “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.”

In the wake of that admission, the Knicks are filing a protest with the NBA to dispute the loss, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Teams have a 48-hour window to protest outcomes, and the league has five days to respond, but rarely do they go anywhere.