MIAMI (AP) -- Mark Cuban has plenty more reasons to be furious with NBA officials.
From his perspective, referees made two huge mistakes before hitting his Dallas Mavericks with an unwanted timeout during the closing moments of their 101-100 overtime loss to the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA finals on Sunday night.
Cuban said replays show that referees missed a backcourt violation against Dwyane Wade at the start of his final drive to the basket. The Dallas owner also believes Wade fouled the Mavericks' Jason Terry before drawing the contact that led to his winning free throws with 1.9 seconds left.
For the Mavericks, those incidents overshadowed what seemed like the obvious source of their anger: Being given their final timeout between Wade's foul shots, instead of after, when they could've moved the ball to midcourt and had a chance to set up a final shot.
"I care less about the timeout," Cuban said. "The error in my mind occurred before then."
Asked if it was the collision that Terry jumped up from screaming about being shoved, Cuban said: "You mean when he pushed him? I don't know. I guess that's not a call. I guess that's not a foul."
Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki, who ended up being charged with the foul on Wade's drive, said he thought "Dwyane pushed off like three guys to get to the basket."
After Wade made another free throw following the timeout, Dallas guard Devin Harris missed a desperation heave. When the buzzer sounded, the Mavericks unleashed their anger.
Cuban, who was wearing the jersey of suspended forward Jerry Stackhouse, ran onto the court and screamed at official Joe DeRosa, then went to the scorer's table and stared down NBA commissioner David Stern and other league officials. Cuban then went up the tunnel toward their aisle and kept screaming and staring.
Stern made his way out, but Cuban didn't let up. Considering he's been fined well over $1 million -- including $200,000 this postseason alone -- his tab could rise again before Game 6 in Dallas on Tuesday night.
Players were irate, too.
Nowitzki, who scored 20 points including a tough jumper that put Dallas up by one point with 9.1 seconds left, kicked the ball into the stands as he left the court. On his way to the locker room, he slammed against a stationary bike then kicked at something else. Josh Howard, who called the timeout, threw off his headband in disgust as he left the court.
"Josh Howard goes to Joe DeRosa and not only once, but twice asks for a timeout," referee Joe Crawford told a pool reporter. "Forced to call it, simple as that."
When told by a reporter what Crawford said, Howard became so agitated that he had to be taken out of the locker room to calm down. Cuban came in when Howard returned.
"It's common sense -- what would I tell him timeout for?" Howard said after gathering his emotions.
The Mavericks went to the foul line 25 times. So did Wade. The entire Heat team went 49 times.
"I don't know," Cuban said. "I guess they got fouled more."
Said Harris: "It's not like we're not going to the basket."
Mavericks coach Avery Johnson refused to answer questions about the Terry-Wade contact, repeatedly asking his interrogator what he thought. Terry said he couldn't comment.
"We have to watch the film and see," he said.
Asked if the refs explained the non-call to him, Cuban said: "No, they don't do that here. That's unfortunate."
Cuban was standing against a wall, shaking his head while gathering his thoughts before speaking to reporters when assistant coach Larry Riley alerted him to the missed backcourt violation.
"You can't be established in the frontcourt, then jump into the backcourt," Cuban said after watching a replay. "My understanding from the rule book is, if you are going to catch the ball in the backcourt, you have to be in the backcourt to catch it. You can't be established into the backcourt after you catch it or that's a backcourt violation."
The Mavericks came into the game already furious over the decision to suspend Stackhouse because of hard foul in Game 4.
This latest incident, and possible league action against Cuban, makes things even more interesting as the Heat take a 3-2 series lead to Dallas for Game 6 on Tuesday night.
"This is going to leave a bitter taste in everyone's mouth," Howard said. "We're going to come out and play hard in Game 6 and Game 7."
