There’s no denying how special Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance vs the Chicago Bulls was on Monday night. Not every player is capable of scoring that many points. He set a new Cleveland Cavaliers franchise record for points scored in a game. However, according to NBA reports, there were two missed calls that helped Mitchell reach 71 and possibly would have changed the outcome of the game as well.
Cleveland pulled of a 21-point comeback on the shoulders of Donovan Mitchell’s shoulders. It was the most points scored in a game since Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game in 2006. League reports say that the refs missed two crucial calls at the end of the game that could have given the Bulls a win.
NBA betting sites have the Cavaliers at (+1800) to win the Finals this season. The points and win cannot be undone for Mitchell or the Cavaliers, so the apology means nothing at all if the leagues officials are missing some of the biggest calls of the game.
CAREER-HIGH.
FRANCHISE RECORD.
NBA SEASON-HIGH.
8TH MOST POINTS IN NBA HISTORY.
DONOVAN MITCHELL. #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/4ahr6SeQOf— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 3, 2023
NBA admits that refs blew two huge calls in the Bulls vs Cavs game
The first missed call that helped the Cavaliers was a missed travel call on center Jarrett Allen. He took a pass from Donovan Mitchell and pivoted in the lane to cut the Bulls lead to one. It was bad defense by the Bulls in the first place, but the travel should have absolutely been called. This drew the game to a one point lead and momentum on Cleveland’s side.
What hurt the Bulls the most was the second missed call as it likely could have stopped OT from happening and Chicago have won the game. However, Donovan Mitchell shot a free-throw and intentionally missed to try and get his team the two point shot they needed. The league says the refs missed a lane violation call on that free-throw that would have given possession back to the Bulls with a 130-128 lead with less than five seconds in the game.
