NBA confirms Donovan Mitchell should have been called for a lane violation on the play that forced overtime

Tough break for the hard-luck Chicago Bulls as they fell to 16-21 on the season.

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA has confirmed in the Last Two Minute Report for the Chicago Bulls-Cleveland Cavaliers game that Cavs star Donovan Mitchell committed a lane violation in the pivotal play that tied the game at 130 apiece with a second to go in regulation.

Crucial missed call

According to the report, Mitchell should have been called for a lane violation after he intentionally missed his second free-throw with the Cavs down by two, 130-128, with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. 

While the report officially validates what many already suspected, it cannot undo the missed call that allowed Mitchell to grab the offensive rebound and put it back in to tie the game at 130 and send it into overtime. Mitchell tallied 13 more points in the extra session to finish the thrilling game with a mind-blowing 71 points.

Here’s the Donovan Mitchell put back after the intentional miss. The ref at bottom of screen is so intent on starting the clock he isn’t watching for Mitchell violating the free throw line before the ball hits anything. This cost the Bulls the game. pic.twitter.com/vMfRZ8MedS

— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) January 3, 2023

Bulls head coach Billy Donovan commented on the missed call, saying his team has been on the wrong end of these unfortunate circumstances for the second game in a row.

"Listen, it's been two games in a row," Donovan said. "DeMar obviously got fouled the other night against them. And I think the two-minute report will come out and say he crossed the line. I could be wrong and if I'm wrong, I'll apologize. But at least what I saw on film, it made it hard for Patrick to block him out because he was certainly across the free-throw line before the ball hit the rim. And if that's the case, it's a violation."

Unfortunate circumstances

Mitchell's play was not the only crucial missed call that went against the Bulls in that game. The report also stated that Cavs center Jarrett Allen committed a traveling violation on his layup that pulled his team to within one, 128-127, with 12.1 seconds remaining in the fourth.

"Allen lifts and re-plants his pivot foot without releasing the ball," the report stated.

NBA L2M, as expected, rules that Jarrett Allen should've been called for a travel with 12.1 seconds left in regulation and that Donovan Mitchell committed a lane violation on his putback that forced OT.

— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 3, 2023

Missed calls aside, the Bulls have no time to dwell on the loss as they face the Brooklyn Nets; a team on a 12-game win streak. Breaking the longest-active winning streak would be huge for Chicago as they continue their playoff quest amid an up-and-down regular season run.