Referee's Decision On James Harden's Dunk Cost Houston Rockets Victory Against San Antonio Spurs

James Harden's massive 50 points scoring in a double-overtime game against San Antonio Spurs failed to yield the desired victory for Houston Rockets with the game ending in a controversy over referee's decision that wrongly ruled out a dunk by Harden.

The questionable decision was in the fourth quarter when Harden stoled the ball from Dejounte Murray and broke off to dunk but the basket flipped over with the ball and return back in the net in such a way the ref misjudged for a miss. Meanwhile, at this time, Rockets were already coasting to victory with a 15-point lead.

Dominant Rockets soon began to watch their lead trimmed down by the hosts and leveled 115 -115 by Lonnie Walker's back-to-back three-point shots with 11 seconds remaining that forced the game to enter overtime.

That decision could not be verified during the game as Rockets protested and were refused a video review of the dunk. They were unlucky in the overtime as Spurs wiped off their five-point lead in the last minutes to win by 135-133.

"We have looked at the play and Harden dunked it so hard that the net carried back over the rim a second time," said NBA referee James Capers. "Should have been a successful field goal."

Harden could not hide his displeasure in the game and expressed his frustration by angrily throwing off the ball at the fulltime whistle. Rockets improved 13-7 to be fifth in the Western Conference dominated by Los Angeles Lakers who are in #1 spot.