NBA cites seven missed calls in final two minutes of Cavs’ loss to Raptors

Let’s start here: The Cavs were up eight with about 5 minutes to go. That’s the bigger story. They didn’t get stops when needed, didn’t execute, and didn’t finish. Still, the L2M report shows several moments that swung things late.

Three missed calls went against Toronto. Four went against Cleveland.

The most notable? A sequence involving Donovan Mitchell.

With just over a minute left, Mitchell was hit by Jamal Shead before an eight-second violation was called. The league later said it should’ve been a defensive foul. That’s two free throws for Cleveland in a one-possession game. Instead, the Raptors went the other way and grabbed the lead.

That’s a swing. There were others. Sam Merrill was denied a free throw on an off-ball foul late. Mitchell was also not called for a double dribble earlier in the final minutes. Evan Mobley avoided a defensive three-second violation. Max Strus got away with contact on a rebound.

You get the idea. It was messy.

In total, the Cavs should’ve had four additional free throws, per the report. Toronto would’ve had one more.

Does that decide the game? Maybe. Maybe not.

What’s clear is that the Cavs had control and lost it. The whistles didn’t help. But the Cavs still had their chances and didn’t capitalize. 

So no matter how you spin it, the series is now down to a best-of-three. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Cleveland.

As for Game 4, well, apparently it wasn’t only the players who were something less-than-amazing. It seems the same was true of the refs.