During an NBA preseason game between the Mavericks and Pacers, both teams subbed in entire lineups after a timeout. When play resumed, every player on the court ran in the wrong direction. Jared Dudley, on the sideline, noticed it immediately and called it out. One player took advantage and called for the ball, thinking he had an easy fast break, yelling that they had tricked the other team. He scored the layup, but officials blew the play dead for a backcourt violation. Confusion followed. Coaches argued with the ref, saying the officials gave the ball to the wrong team and shouldn’t have called a backcourt. Players laughed it off as the refs discussed what happened. The game resumed after the mistake, but the sequence highlighted some of the chaos that can unfold in a preseason game with rotated squads.
