Perhaps Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was right after all?  Perhaps the NBA does need to do something about the influence a referee can have on a team winning or losing a game.  

Earlier this week we saw Chicago's Jalen Rose get fouled on a buzzer 'beating' shot in double overtime against Houston with no call, then replays clearly showing the ball still in Rose's hands with the clock fixed at 0.0

In Cleveland last night the plot was similar and the result was the same.  With the scores tied at 97 in the game between the Cavaliers and the Nets, Cleveland had one last chance to win it with only five tenths left on the game clock.  Referee Leon Wood turned to Jason Kidd before the play unfolded and stated there was not enough for a player to catch the ball and shoot if he is not facing the basket, which is exactly what Cavs forward Lamond Murray did moments later.

"He told me exactly, if anybody catches it, they got to face the basket, that's the only way they can catch and shoot," Kidd said. "Lamond wasn't facing the basket. I went out there and asked exactly what they can do. They did the opposite and got away with it."

The Nets saw that the game clock had not been restarted when Lamond Murray caught an inbounds pass on the final play, with replays also showing that Murray did get the shot off before time had expired.

"Fifteen frames go by and the ball was lying flat in his hand with five-tenths of a second; he hadn't even gone through his motion yet to shoot the ball," Nets president Rod Thorn said of Murray. "When you catch the ball sideways, it's impossible to do that. That's just unbelievable."

"I want to emphasize, it has nothing to do with the clock; it's up to the refs," said Thorn, was the N.B.A.'s executive in charge of referees and discipline for 14 years before becoming the Nets' president. "That's a referees' decision about whether it's done on time or not. The refs know what you can do in three-tenths, five-tenths, seven-tenths and so on ? that's part of their training."

ESPN.com reported that all three referees wore belt packs that can activate the clock when a button is pushed.

"They have the things on, but sometimes you forget," Thorn said.

Note: NBA rules state that the referees cannot review the play on the court, nor can the Nets appeal.