NBA Admits Officiating Mistake During Crucial Cavs-Pacers Game 2

The Cleveland Cavaliers should’ve won Game 2.

We’re not talking about how they should’ve closed the game out after leading by double digits for most of the contest.

Literally, they should’ve won the game, and a big mistake by the officials at a crucial time cost them.

As reported by Evan Dammarell on X, the league just announced that, upon further review, Tyrese Haliburton’s offensive rebound off his missed free throw shouldn’t have counted because there were multiple players in the lane:

“The NBA has declared in the two minute report that Tyrese Halliburton’s offensive rebound off of his missed second free throw should’ve been illegal due to multiple players entering the lane,” Dammarell wrote on X. “Instead of Halliburton’s game-winning three it should’ve been a jump ball at center court.”

The NBA has declared in the two minute report that Tyrese Halliburton’s offensive off of his missed second free throw should’ve been illegal due to multiple players entering the lane.

Instead of Halliburton’s game-winning three it should’ve been a jump ball at center court.

— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) May 7, 2025

This would’ve made it significantly more difficult for the Indiana Pacers to get a clean look and shoot before the clock expired, although, technically, that was still a possibility.

Even so, at the end of the day, the Cavs can’t blame the officials for such an epic meltdown.

They were in full control of the game for most of the night, and they kept shooting themselves in the foot when it mattered the most.

Granted, the Pacers also deserve all the credit in the world for not giving up and continuing to fight until the very final possession.

But if the Cavs had just taken better care of the basketball or boxed out, the series would’ve been tied at one win apiece.

You never want to put yourself in a position in which a missed call could’ve been the difference between winning or losing.

Now, they have their backs against the wall, and they will have to steal homecourt advantage right back in the next two games on the road.