The ref blew his whistle and raised his fist, sending Michael Jordan to the foul line to score the winning points with three seconds left in overtime.
Afterward, the Seattle SuperSonics called it a bogus call."Everybody in the world knows there's a double standard here," Seattle coach George Karl said after the Sonics dropped an 89-87 decision to the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night.
In a rematch of last season's NBA finalists, the disputed call came with the score tied 87-all.
Jordan, guarded by Gary Payton, seemed to bobble the ball as he was putting up a jumper. By a foul was called on Payton, Jordan sank both free throws and Hersey Hawkins missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
"He lost the ball. I didn't foul anybody," Payton said.
Jordan disputed the double standard claim.
"That's garbage," he said.
Jordan played 50 minutes, scored 32 points and matched a career high with 18 rebounds.
Payton finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists.
Chicago's Scottie Pippen and Seattle's Shawn Kemp both missed overtime after fouling out in the closing seconds of regulation.
The Bulls, who notched their 25th straight home victory, also beat the Sonics in an earlier regular-season meeting at Seattle.
"We defended our homecourt and we proved we can win there. They didn't prove they can win here," Jordan said.
Trail Blazers 92, Kings 87
At Portland, the Blazers upped their winning streak to 10 games, the longest current one in the league and the fourth-longest in franchise history.
Rockets 97, Nets 89
At East Rutherford, Sedale Threatt and Eddie Johnson scored 11 points each in the fourth quarter as the Rockets came from behind in the final period for the 17th time this season.
Clyde Drexler, playing only his second game since returning from a hamstring injury, led the Rockets with 23 points and 12 assists. Hakeem Olajuwon added 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Clippers 121, Suns 111
Rodney Rogers scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles moved into seventh place in the Western Conference playoff race by winning at Phoenix.
Bullets 86, Mavericks 85
Calbert Cheaney's layup with 1.5 seconds left gave Washington its fifth straight road victory.
Pacers 115, Timberwolves 97
At Indianapolis, Reggie Miller scored 27 points, Dale Davis had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Rik Smits added 21 points for the Pacers, who shot 57 percent from the field and outrebounded the Timberwolves 41-26.
Smits scored 17 of the Pacers' 38 points in the decisive third quarter, when Indiana went 14-for-19 from the field and 8-for-9 from the foul line to build a 17-point lead. Indiana extended the margin to 22 on Travis Best's 3-pointer with 7:27 left in the fourth quarter.
Knicks 98, Grizzlies 73
At New York, the Knicks held the Grizzlies scoreless for the final 9:05 and extended Vancouver's losing streak to 14 games - the longest in the NBA this season.
Raptors 117, 76ers 105
At Toronto, Marcus Camby scored a career-high 36 points and Damon Stoudamire had 30 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds.
Stoudamire, who had 15 points in the third quarter, picked up his second triple-double of the season and third of his career.
Derrick Coleman had 25 points and a season-high 16 rebounds for the 76ers.