The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their scorching start to the 2024-25 NBA season on Wednesday evening with a road win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Donovan Mitchell has been brilliant so far on the young season, and that continued on Wednesday as the star scored 29 points in the road victory, which pushed Cleveland’s record to a perfect 9-0.
Making matters even more impressive for the Cavs so far this year is that they’ve been doing this without a particularly favorable whistle, a trend that continued on Wednesday vs the Pelicans. After the game, Mitchell sounded off on the officiating crew.
“We’re second in the league in drives per game and we’re not getting any foul calls,” Mitchell said, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “I’ve been quiet about it for a long time. Tonight, I almost lost my mind out there. D.G. had no free throws. I had six. Four late in the game. J.A. (Jarrett Allen) had two. Ev (Evan Mobley) had (three). For us to be the team that we are, to drive and not get foul calls, it’s crazy.
“The refereeing has been so inconsistent, especially against us. There needs to be consistency. I’m proud of the way we were fighting through it, and I told my guys I was going to be the one to say something about it, don’t even complain, but it’s getting out of hand, it’s getting crazy.:
Mitchell then spoke on if he has any theories as to why this may be the case.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But the stats are there. I didn’t want to come out here and not be factual. We are a team that is getting into the paint. It’s not just myself. It’s us as a collective. Trying to finish, getting hit, different things, eight different guys had blood on us tonight but we’re not getting no fouls called in our favor. It’s been multiple games now. For me, that’s part of my game. If I’m getting knocked off my line, that’s a foul. I mean, tonight it was a foul for Zion (Williamson) or whoever. Where’s the consistency?”
Will the Cavs get respect?
Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
Getting a favorable whistle was never a problem for the Cavs during the days that LeBron James played for the franchise, but outside of that, the team has never been particularly marquee or prone to getting questionable calls go their direction.
In any case, the Cavs will look to make it a perfect 10-0 on the young season when they next hit the floor vs the Golden State Warriors on Friday evening at home.
