L2M report confirms that two missed calls went against the Cavs during their Game 2 collapse
Cleveland’s fourth-quarter collapse was assisted by the refs.
The Cleveland Cavaliers deserved to lose Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers. They were the ones who turned it over twice in the final minute. They were the ones who gave up multiple offensive rebounds. And they were the ones that allowed Tyrese Haliburton to hit the game-winning three.
That said, the final-minute collapse likely wouldn’t have happened without these missed calls.
The NBA’s Last Two Minute Report confirmed that there were two missed lane violations in the final minute that led to five points for Indiana, including the game-winning three. There was also an additional defensive three-second violation that should’ve gone against Donovan Mitchell, but wasn’t called.
The first missed call was for a double lane violation on Pascal Siakam’s second-missed free throw.
Multiple players enter the lane and cross the three-point line before the ball is released for the free throw. The basket should have been nullified and a jump ball held at midcourt.
The Cavs also entered the lane early, so this being called correctly wouldn’t have resulted in Cleveland’s ball. But a jump ball would’ve been a preferable option.
The camera angle on this play wasn’t great, but you can clearly see that Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard were nearly at the free-throw line while the ball was still on Siakam’s fingertips.
This big of a head start allowed both Nesmith and Nembhard to be almost in the restricted area before the ball hit the rim.
Yes, Mitchell and Ty Jerome should’ve boxed out better, or at all really. But what can you do when one team gets this kind of a head start?
The second missed call benefited the Cavs. Mitchell should’ve been whistled for a three-second violation on the Haliburton drive that ended with a Jerome shooting foul.
It’s almost comical how long Mitchell was in the paint guarding no one. Additionally, he wasn’t taking away the three-point line, which is what the Cavs' defense was supposed to be doing here.
From this clip, it’s clear that Mitchell’s calf was really bothering him late, as he said postgame.
This being called correctly would’ve resulted in a technical free-throw and the Pacers keeping the ball before the Haliburton layup attempt.
The shooting foul was on Jerome on the Haliburton drive. The league confirmed that it was the correct call there. If Mitchell wasn’t standing in the lane like he was, it’s possible that this would’ve been an and-one. That would’ve changed how this game played out.
The last incorrect call was from the missed Haliburton free throw that resulted in the game-winning three. Again, this was a double lane violation that would’ve benefited the Cavs if called correctly.
Multiple players enter the lane and cross the three-point line before the ball is released for the free throw, and the shooter steps over the plane of the free throw line before the ball touches the rim. The call should have been made and a jump ball held at midcourt.
Haliburton was in the lane before the ball hit the rim. He’s the one who got the rebound. On the surface, it looks like the Cavs were robbed again.
But as you see from the image below, while yes, this was a violation. The violation wasn’t why he got the rebound.
Haliburton was hardly in the paint before the ball hit the rim. And he got the rebound because the ball took a crazy bounce after Myles Turner, Jarrett Allen, and Mitchell all got a hand on it.
While this was still a missed call, it wasn’t one that directly led to the harm like the blown lane violation on the Nesmith putback.
The Last Two Minute Report offers little to no solace. It doesn’t change the outcome of the game or admit anything that we didn’t already know. Everyone watching live saw that this was a lane violation.
The refereeing isn’t why the Cavs lost this game. These wounds were self-inflicted. At the same time, the collapse doesn’t happen if the referees did their job correctly. That’s frustrating, coming on the heels of a Game 1 that saw two key Cavaliers injured on what head coach Kenny Atkinson felt were “overexcessive” plays.
So far, everything that could go wrong is going wrong for the Cavs in the second round.
The series shifts to Indianapolis Friday. The Pacers lead the series 2-0.