Woodson still fuming over shot-clock malfunction

At their brief morning practice Thursday, the Hawks were in a better frame of mind than they were following the controversial finish and loss to Cleveland Wednesday night.

Players joked with one another as they competed in shooting games and drills.

That doesn't mean, however, that coach Mike Woodson had let go of an apparent shot-clock error that had a role in the Hawks' 106-101 defeat, the second loss to the Cavaliers in as many nights.

"All I can say is a lot of mistakes were made," Woodson said.

That, actually, was just the start of what he said, confirming that the team was in the process of filing a protest with the NBA within the 48-hour deadline from the end of the game.

"It's been filed," Hawks part-owner Michael Gearon Jr. said Thursday night. "It becomes official [when it arrives in New York] tomorrow."

The Hawks resume play Friday at home against New York.

"Everybody's fighting and scratching and trying to win a game and it shouldn't come down to a [scorer's] table violation or three officials not being in position to get the calls right," Woodson said. "It shouldn't come down like that, but it happened and the league, it's got to be in their hands now, I think, to do the right thing."

From the Hawks' perspective, the right thing would be a replay of the game's final two minutes. The Hawks, who had seen Cleveland erase their 17-point third-quarter lead , still clung to a 99-98 advantage with two minutes remaining.

Cleveland guard Mo Williams put up an errant shot with 1:56 left that did not hit the rim, so the 24-second shot clock did not re-set. However, Hawks center Al Horford grabbed the rebound, beginning a change of possession which should have re-set the clock.

Instead, the clock continued to wind down and the Hawks headed upcourt with the shot clock reflecting the 14 seconds left on Cleveland's possession. With about seven seconds remaining, Hawks guard Mike Bibby said he realized the clock was running down and got the ball to forward Josh Smith, who was stripped by Cleveland forward LeBron James going to the basket.

Cleveland recovered the loose ball just as the clock expired and began a fastbreak that ended in an Anderson Varejao putback and a 100-99 Cavaliers lead.

The Hawks called timeout and Woodson aired his grievances with official Ken Mauer. Thursday, Woodson said that the officials could have first realized the problem when Smith crossed the halfcourt line with about 12 seconds left on the shot clock, which normally would constitute an eight-second backcourt violation.

Further, when the shot clock expired just as Cleveland gained control of the ball, Woodson said the Hawks themselves should have been called for a 24-second shot clock violation, which might have given officials the opportunity to assess what had just happened. Instead, play went on.

He also apparently had a further problem with Mauer.

"They just didn't have a clue of what was going on," Woodson said. "Between the officials and the scorer's table, there was a problem. I'm not going to comment on what Kenny said, because that's something that's got to be relayed back to the league."

NBA spokesman Mark Broussard said he could not comment on what would be necessary for the league to rule in the Hawks' favor. Incidentally, Mauer was also on the officiating crew for the other game currently under protest, a Dec. 18 Houston win over Dallas that the Mavericks have challenged.