The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Detroit Pistons in overtime in their showdown on Friday. However, the NBA referees played a role in their defeat.
Detroit secured a 122-119 victory over Cleveland behind Jalen Duren’s monster double-double of 33 points and 16 rebounds. The All-Star big man also had three blocks as the Cavs struggled without Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.
Cade Cunningham added 25 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Detroit, who improved to 44-14 on the season with the win.
Jarrett Allen led the scoring for the Cavs with 25 points and nine rebounds, while Evan Mobley added 23 points and 12 boards in the losing effort.
Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that the NBA referees made four mistakes in the last two minutes of both the fourth quarter and overtime, one of which really hurt the Cavs in their pursuit of the win.
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With 18.3 seconds remaining in overtime and the Pistons leading 122-119, Sam Merrill took a 3-pointer for a chance to tie the game. Unfortunately, he missed his shot after Pistons guard Marcus Sasser disrupted his attempt.
According to the NBA’s Last 2 Minute Report, though, Sasser should have been called for a foul for initiating an “illegal lower-body contact following the release of the shot attempt.”
The NBA deemed it an incorrect non-call. Had it been called, Merrill would have gotten three free throws for another chance to tie the game.
For what it’s worth, two of the other three officiating mistakes went against the Cavaliers.
With roughly 90 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Allen sent a bad pass to Jaylon Tyson that eventually led to a Tobias Harris steal and score, cutting the Cavs’ lead to two, 109-107. According to the NBA, Duren should have been called for a foul on Allen as he was making the pass.
“Duren’s (DET) hand slides off the ball and initiates contact with Allen’s (CLE) wrist, affecting his ability to make his intended pass. The illegal contact causes the errant pass,” the NBA commented.
The Cavs would have retained possession had it been called, thereby preventing the Pistons from scoring on the play.
The other mistake came with under 50 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Allen was called for a foul while trying to block Duren, who proceeded to make two free throws to cut Detroit’s lead to one, 110-109.
Nonetheless, the NBA said it was an incorrect call because Allen made “contact with the ball” and legally blocked Duren.
The only incorrect call that went in the Cavs’ favor was an out-of-bounds call that allowed them to keep the ball with less than 10 seconds on the clock in the fourth. Apparently, Tyson was the last one to touch the ball and not Sasser, meaning Detroit should have gotten possession.
Considering that the Cavs lost, all three mistakes called against them clearly hurt their chances. In fact, there might not have been a need for overtime.
Unfortunately for the Cavs, they cannot do anything about it. They dropped to 37-24 on the season with the loss, putting them at No. 4 in the Eastern Conference.
Related: NBA Reveals Incorrect Non-Call in Cavaliers-Bucks Game
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Mar 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
