CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs’ late-quarter collapse in the final minute of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals never should have happened.
At least, according to the NBA.
The Last Two Minute Report — the league’s assessment of officiated events that occur in the last two minutes of games played at or within three points in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime — showed three incorrect calls.
Two of them went against Cleveland in the crushing 120-119 loss.
Both were double lane violations against Indiana.
With 48 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Pacers forward Pascal Siakam missed the second of two free throws. As the ball rolled off the rim, Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith soared in for a putback dunk over Donovan Mitchell that trimmed a seven-point Cavs lead to five.
The basket shouldn’t have counted.
According to the review, multiple players entered the lane and crossed the 3-point line before the ball was released. Had it been called properly in real time by the three-person officiating crew — Tony Brothers, David Guthrie and Nick Buchert — those two points from Nesmith would have been wiped away, leading to a jump ball at midcourt, with Cleveland still in front by seven.
The next mistake came about 30 seconds later, with the Pacers in possession and trailing by three. As they initiated their offensive set, Mitchell camped in the lane defensively for longer than three seconds without actively guarding an opposing player, leading to what should have been a 3-second violation and an Indiana free throw attempt — a beneficial non-call from Cleveland’s perspective.
Then came another blunder — perhaps the most egregious and consequential, a second Indiana double lane violation. This time, with about 12 seconds left on Tyrese Haliburton’s missed free throw that he collected himself.
After grabbing the board, Haliburton calmly dribbled back out to the top of the arc and reset the offense for the final shot — a gut-wrenching sequence that ended with his game-winning triple.
The league’s review showed multiple players crossing the 3-point threshold and Haliburton breaking the plane of the free-throw line before the ball touches the rim. Instead of awarding Haliburton possession, giving him a chance for the go-ahead dagger, play should have stopped with Cleveland clinging to a two-point lead and both teams going to center court for another jump ball.
Tuesday’s outcome won’t change. The Cavs still trail this best-of-seven series 0-2.
In the aftermath of their latest loss, numerous players lamented the plethora of mental mistakes during an unprecedented end-of-game meltdown — missed box outs, failed inbounds passes, burnt timeouts, untimely turnovers. It all contributed to a seven-point lead getting erased in 57 seconds.
Turns out, they weren’t the only ones who screwed up.