NBA’s AI-assisted review overturns critical goaltending call in Clippers win over Mavericks – The Athletic
An announced crowd of 18,624 people inside the American Airlines Center on Friday saved one of its biggest roars of the night for during a stoppage in play late in overtime.
And it had nothing to do with Cooper Flagg, or even this week’s firing of Nico Harrison.
It was for state-of-the-art technology called Court iQ, which played a key role in reversing a goaltending call that was originally made with the naked eye. With the score tied 123-123, the LA Clippers’ James Harden launched a driving floater from 6 feet, only to have Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford sky into the air and block the shot with 1.4 remaining in the extra period.
An official whistled a goaltending violation, giving the Clippers a 125-123 lead.
But thanks to Court iQ, the officials at the NBA’s replay center reversed the call, nullifying the goaltending ruling. Court iQ employs Sony’s Hawk-Eye cameras, which can track almost anything on a basketball court, including the flight of a basketball shot to determine whether it was, or was not, on its way down when it was blocked.
During OT of tonight’s #LACatDAL game, Replay Center officials utilized @NBA Court iQ to overturn the initial ruling of defensive goaltending by DAL to a good block as contact occurred when the ball was still on its upward flight to the basket. pic.twitter.com/UaQCw706bE
— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) November 15, 2025
The Court iQ technology revealed that Gafford had blocked the shot cleanly, when it was still on its upward trajectory. The jumbotron at American Airlines Center displayed a computer animation that showed the ball’s path in a continuous green arc, indicating it was still rising, prompting the fans to roar their approval. Crew chief Courtney Kirkland received the news from the league’s replay center, and the call was reversed.
The game went to a second overtime, and the Clippers won anyway, 133-127.
“It’s good they can go and look at it,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said when asked after the game about the goaltending reversal. “They corrected the call. They got the call right. They’ve been on other sides of that where they did call goaltend. But they got the call right, and it goes into another overtime.”
