The Cleveland Cavaliers clawed their way back from a 15-point first-half deficit to defeat the red-hot Minnesota Timberwolves 127-125 in an overtime thriller on Monday evening. However, they may have gotten some help from the referees in completing the comeback. Based on the NBA’s Last Two Minute Report, the Cavs were the beneficiaries of two missed calls at the end of regulation and overtime that assisted in the victory.
The first incorrect call came at the end of regulation. The league says that
Anthony Edwards should’ve been awarded free throws on a drive to the basket in the final seconds of regulation.
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Peyton Watson made an impressive block on this play, but a shooting foul should’ve been called before then. According to the report, “[James] Harden initiates contact with Edwards’ arm, which affects his driving shot attempt.”
It’s difficult to see any foul on this particular angle. Harden helped from the corner and reached in on the drive, but there’s little to suggest a foul should’ve been called. Maybe a different angle would lead you to believe otherwise. Edwards did throw his palms up in frustration when he saw a foul wasn’t called, so maybe there was some contact there.
If this was called according to the report, the Cavs would’ve likely needed to make a basket to tie or win the game in the final 4.2 seconds of regulation.
The second missed call came at another important moment. LaMelo Ball shouldn’t have been charged with a foul on a late tie-up with Donovan Mitchell at the end of regulation.
The report states that: “Mitchell dribbles the ball off Ball’s (MIN) foot, which causes Mitchell to lose control of the ball. The ensuing contact that occurs after the ball is deflected is deemed incidental.”
This is a much more obvious missed call than the first one. Here, Mitchell does seem to just dribble into Ball’s foot and lose the ball. Any contact that occurred was after Mitchell just dribbled straight into Ball. This whistle shouldn’t have blown, and play should’ve been allowed to continue. The closing seconds could’ve played out differently if this wasn’t called a foul.
The Cavs earned a hard-fought victory on Monday. These two missed calls don’t take away from that, but Cleveland is fortunate that these decisions went in their favor.
