Sunday turned out to be a disastrous one for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as they once again lost to the Atlanta Hawks. It wasn’t just any ordinary one, as they squandered a 26-point lead in the fourth quarter, and eventually lost in overtime.
The closing seconds of regulation and overtime were filled with numerous questionable plays, including the sequence where LeBron James was called for his sixth foul despite only having minimal contact on Paul Millsap. The King discussed it, via Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, and explained why he thinks it should’ve been a non-call instead.
“Yeah, it wasn’t a foul on my sixth foul. I knew I had five. I knew the ball was going long. So, I may have grazed Millsap a little bit but I mean, throughout the course of a game (that happens). I didn’t push him or anything like that.”
His disqualification from the game certainly added to the frustration he and his teammates felt, as they knew how epic their collapse was. The Cavaliers made history on the night as they became the first team in 15 years to lose a 26-point lead through three quarters.
It also opened the door for the Boston Celtics to once again snatch the top seed in the Eastern Conference. With only two games left on their schedule, the Cavs will need to win them both to secure the top spot and assure themselves of homecourt advantage at least until the conference finals, should they make it that far. It is also worth noting that if they finish the regular season with the same record as the Celtics, they will still be ranked higher as they won their season series.