On Wednesday evening, the Cleveland Cavs fell back into the loss column with a tough road defeat at the hands of the Orlando Magic. The Cavs were playing from behind throughout most of the second half in this one, and although they were able to make things interesting late, it was ultimately too little, too late for Cleveland.
After the game, Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell proposed a rule change for the NBA, after he perceived that some calls did not go Cleveland’s way.
“I do feel like there were some tough calls that didn’t go our way,” Mitchell said, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, via Hoopshype. “I got fouled on a 3 and I’m having a hard time with the rule of once you’ve had two challenges you can’t get any more, especially when you win both.”
Indeed, there were a few calls that did not go Cleveland’s way down the stretch of the game on Wednesday, including a controversial out of bounds call that went to Orlando, despite a replay seeming to show that Cavs guard James Harden was not, in fact, the last to touch.
“Maybe I’m biased because it happened to us twice in game-ending situations the past two and a half or three weeks, but they are game-changing plays,” Mitchell added. “It happened in Detroit. It happened here. Both of them on TV. I don’t know what the rule should be. If you’re winning challenges, especially on calls that are very obvious, I think it’s something that should be talked about.”
Overall, the Cavs are still in good shape, currently sitting at 40-26 on the season, good for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. They will next take the floor on Friday evening vs the Dallas Mavericks on the road.