The Cleveland Cavaliers were the ones who lost Wednesday’s game against the Orlando Magic, not the officiating crew. It was the Cavs’ defense that didn’t put up enough resistance and allowed 128 points to a bottom-third offense.
They were also on the wrong end of a few calls that helped determine the game.
First, Keon Ellis was called for a shooting foul that he didn’t commit. When he tried to tell the bench to review the play, he was called for a technical. The foul was overturned on review, but the technical wasn’t.
Needing to use the review there cost them in the final 20 seconds of a two-point game. The ball appeared to have gone out of bounds off an Orlando player. The Cavs couldn’t challenge because they won their two challenges earlier in the game and aren’t allowed a third. Then, Desmond Bane hit a game-sealing three after the inbound to secure the victory.
If the call had gone the other way, the Cavs would’ve had a chance to tie or win the game on their final possession. It’s also worth pointing out that the league’s Last Two Minute report said that the call on the floor was correct.
Not being able to review the call in the moment is something that Donovan Mitchell took issue with.
“I’m having a hard time with the rule of once you’ve had two challenges you can’t get any more, especially when you win both,” Mitchell said in a cleveland.com article by Chris Fedor. “I don’t know what the rule should be. If you’re winning challenges, especially on calls that are very obvious, I think it’s something that should be talked about.”
Support us and Let ‘Em Know with Homage!
Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can buy the Spida shirt HERE. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE.
Mitchell is right to feel this way, and he did clarify that it wasn’t the reason they lost. It’s deflating to feel like the outcome of a game is affected by something neither team can control.
At the same time, missed calls happen to every team in every game in every sport. And it will keep happening as long as sports are played. It’s just as much part of the game as missed shots, turnovers, or the basketball itself.
There’s the thought that if there were more replay reviews, we’d somehow make things more fair. And while the increased use of replay does help get more calls correct, sports will never be completely fair. The more you try to make it that way, the more you end up highlighting that it isn’t, and never will be.
Adding more replays hasn’t made the product better in any sport; it just leaves you more unsatisfied while also derailing any momentum the game had. You will never create a system where every judgment call is right. And you know what, it’s okay to accept that’s just part of the game.
Sports and life in general are unfair. There’s a certain amount of luck involved in winning, which includes the officiating. That wasn’t on the Cavs’ side on Wednesday, and they weren’t good enough to overcome it. We’ll all be happier if we just accept that this is just part of the sport.
Let’s just move on.
