The Cleveland Cavaliers had a chance to win late in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Charlotte Hornets. They were up three with 13 seconds left. The Hornets had a chance to tie the game with a late three-pointer on their final possession of regulation.
The Cavs haven’t been in this position often this season. Last season, Kenny Atkinson demonstrated that he would prefer his team to foul when up by three points late. They didn’t on Sunday. Brandon Miller hit a game-tying three after Darius Garland fell
to the ground after taking a bump from Miller.
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Cleveland went on to lose the game in overtime. According to Atkinson, Miller shouldn’t have had a chance to take the game-tying three-pointer.
“Yes,” Atkinson said when asked if he thought about fouling up three on the final possession. “We’re a foul team (when in this position).
Atkinson didn’t go as far as saying Garland messed up. He thought that Garland drew an offensive foul on the play that led to the three.
“I don’t know, I thought DG (Garland)…was in really good position,” Atkinson said. “I’m not criticizing the refs. I still don’t understand how you can go through [a] guy’s chest when they’re in a legal guarding position. They just won’t call it, and the smaller guy really gets penalized for moving the feet, getting in the right position, [just for the offensive player to] go through your chest.”
That said, Atkinson didn’t want his team in a position to be relying on a call like that late.
“But yeah, we’re a foul team,” Atkinson concluded.
The Cavs had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Donovan Mitchell missed a midrange jumper. They then went scoreless in overtime.
There are a lot of things to blame for why the Cavs lost on Sunday. Not being able to send the Hornets to the free-throw line late was just one of the contributing factors.
