Billy Donovan is 0-for-1 in career challenges.
The Thunder head coach made use of the new coach’s challenge rule during Oklahoma City’s game against the Mavericks Tuesday.
The call on the floor was a charge assessed to Hamidou Diallo as he was driving to the basket with 8:07 left in the game and the Thunder leading 103-92.
The new rule allows each team one challenge in the game.
It can be used to challenge a personal foul called on its own team, a called out-of-bounds violation, and a called goaltending or basket interference violation.
“A challenge must come immediately after the play and challenges of out-of-bounds calls, goaltending or basket interference will not be permitted in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter or the last two minutes of overtime.”
As with challenges in the NFL, if the challenge is lost, the team who challenged the call will lose a timeout.
Erik Horne of The Oklahoman noted that Steven Adams and Chris Paul were paying close attention to as the ruling was explained.
The challenge rule is in effect as a “one-year pilot program”. A call-challenge program is already in place in the G League and was used in all three Summer Leagues this season.
It will be interesting to see how often teams decide to utilize their option to challenge calls. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see more challenges happen during the preseason so teams can get a feel for the new rule prior to the start of the regular season.
For what it’s worth, Donovan lost the challenge. Diallo finished the game with 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and three personal fouls.
