Inbounds play after a made basket

[Rich]

I saw something I haven't seen in 20 years tonight. I've talked to a great number of people and I still haven't talked to anyone 100% certain how to rule on this play, including some fine area officials:

Visiting team (A) winning 52-50 with the ball and the right to run the baseline.

As I expected, A2 ran from in-bounds to receive the ball from A1. The ball was rolled/bounced in the direction of A2.

(Note: This court is very tight along both baselines. There is a wall 2-3 feet from the baseline covered with thick padding.)

The ball grazed the wall/padding and was then caught by A2 (pretty much in one motion) who then threw the ball onto the court.

My reaction at the time (for what it's worth) was that the ball was not directed towards the court and that the rule simply says that A has the right to make the throw-in from anywhere along the baseline. I did not consider this to be a violation and called the foul once A3 received the pass (and was immediately) fouled.

The home coach was quite unhappy and was not made any happier with my explanation, which was made with sincerity at the time.

I was more than prepared to be wrong on this, but I looked through the rules and case materials (the rule is 7-5-7, BTW) in the locker room and this is simply not addressed, not that I can find.

Now, many good officials I spoke to said they would call this a violation for the same reason that a throw-in off the back of the backboard would be a violation - the ball struck something stationary out-of-bounds. I can live with that, except there are clear differences: The throw/roll from A1 to A2 is not a throw-in. It's allowing a teammate to make the throw-in from anywhere along the endline, which is allowed by rule. If A1 had dropped the ball after the made basket so A2 could pick it up and make the throw in and the ball had rolled up against the wall, I wouldn't have even considered making a call. What's the difference?

If someone can point me to an actual case play or rules citation that specifically covers this, I'd appreciate it.

Like I said, I hadn't seen anything like it in 20 years and I feel miserable that this happened in a 2-point game with 7 seconds left where a violation called would've given the ball to the losing team in its offensive half of the court. Right or wrong, I feel I was unprepared for this, which is a horrible feeling.