There’s no denying how different Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point performance against the Chicago Bulls was on Monday night. Not every player can score that much. He set a new Cleveland Cavaliers franchise record for points scored in a single game. However, according to NBA reports, there were two missed calls that helped Mitchell reach 71 and could have changed the outcome of the game.
Cleveland pulled off a 21-point comeback on the shoulders of Donovan Mitchell. He scored the most points in a game since Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game in 2006, and league reports say the referees could have missed two critical calls late in the game and given the Bulls a win.
NBA betting sites have the Cavaliers at (+1800) to win the Finals this season. The points and the win are irrevocable for Mitchell or the Cavaliers, so there’s no point in apologizing for league officials missing some of the game’s biggest calls.
Career-High.
Franchise register.
NBA season-high.
8th most points in NBA history.
Donovan Mitchell #Know pic.twitter.com/4ahr6SeQOf— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) January 3, 2023
The NBA admitted that the reporters blew two huge calls in the Bulls vs Cavs game
The first missed call that helped the Cavaliers was a missed trip call by center Jarrett Allen. He took a pass from Donovan Mitchell and spun down the lane to cut the Bulls’ lead to one. In the first place, the Bulls had a bad defense, but the trip should have been called. That tied the game at one point and kept the momentum going on Cleveland’s side.
It was the second missed call that hurt the Bulls the most because OT could have stopped it from happening and Chicago won the game. However, Donovan Mitchell attempted a free kick and was unable to get the team the two-point shot they needed. The league said the refs missed a lane violation call on a free throw call that would have given the Bulls a 130-128 lead with less than 5 seconds left in the game.
