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Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni reacts hilariously to finally getting a successful coach’s challenge

Mike D'Antoni

After last night’s controversy in San Antonio, Houston Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni is just relieved to have a coach’s challenge ruling that finally went in his favor.

The Rockets took down the defending champions Toronto Raptors, 119-109, at the Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. Apart from bouncing back from last night’s devastating double-OT defeat versus the San Antonio Spurs, D’Antoni is ecstatic to have also won his Coach’s Challenge against the Raps.

“You saw me, I was waiving that finger. I was going crazy. I almost got off the ground. I was a helicopter. I was going after it this time,” he shared post-game, via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Prior to the match, the Rockets officially filed a protest to NBA, citing officials’ “misapplication of rules” regarding James Harden’s dunk — which they claim cost them the ball game against the Spurs.

D’Antoni challenged the referee’s initial ruling of basket interference, as well as the overturned call to an out-of-bounds play — which were both reviewable per the league’s new rules.

But he did not get the benefit of the doubt as D’Antoni got denied for supposedly not issuing the challenge in the allotted 30 seconds — even though the official changed the call.

D’Antoni, meanwhile, holds the distinction as the first head coach in NBA history to win a coach’s challenge this season. The Rockets’ meltdown against the Spurs certainly falls in their hands, but the case could also be made that the ref’s missed call could have certainly altered the outcome of the ball game.

The post Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni reacts hilariously to finally getting a successful coach’s challenge appeared first on ClutchPoints.

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