Donovan Mitchell sent the best game of his career into overtime with an incredible game.
A little too incredible, said the NBA.
Mitchell’s desperation basket, which forced overtime – from an intentionally missed free throw – and extended what became his 71-point effort for the Cleveland Cavaliers shouldn’t have counted in their 145-134 win over the Chicago Bulls, the NBA said on Tuesday.
The reason: Mitchell “stepped above the level of the free-throw line before the ball touched the basket ring,” the league said in its publicly released report, which assesses calls from officials in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime of games that are within of three points or less.
Players shooting a free throw may not cross the foul line until the ball reaches the basket cylinder. It’s an injury, the shot wouldn’t have counted and Chicago should have taken possession by 4.7 seconds with the Bulls leading 130-128.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan knew Monday night it was a violation and predicted the league’s Last Two Minute Report would back him up. The league has used the reports for years as a form of accountability and transparency, but game results are not altered by the subsequent discovery of a missed call.
“It’s no use,” Donovan said. “It’s like, ‘We’re sorry.’ … That’s unfortunate because I thought our boys fought and fought.”
Mitchell intentionally missed the free throw because Cleveland was two points behind. He shot the ball off the back of the rim perfectly as he intended, going into a crowd of players to snatch the rebound and scoring with three seconds left to level the game.
That basket earned him 58 points and broke Cleveland’s single-game record of 57 held by former Cavaliers stars LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, eventually forcing overtime.
Mitchell scored 13 more points in overtime. The 71 points is the most in the NBA since Kobe Bryant had 81 on January 22, 2006.
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