Donovan Mitchell believes the Cleveland Cavaliers should have had a whistle in the closing moments of their 93-89 Game 4 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
The Cavs star missed two key shots late — a floater with 21.6 seconds left and a three-pointer with 8.6 seconds remaining — as Cleveland failed to steal the road win and fell into a 2-2 series tie.
After the game, Mitchell said he felt he was fouled on the floater.
“Just getting downhill. I felt like I went up for the floater and I felt like I didn’t have my legs under me because it was taken out, but they didn’t call a foul,” Mitchell told reporters.
Mitchell also addressed the missed three, where he tried to use a shot fake and bait contact.
“I thought I had him on the shot fake, but they didn’t call that,” he said. “So that’s on me.”
The sequence was the defining stretch of a rough Game 4 for the Cavs. Both teams struggled offensively, shooting 40 percent from the field, while the Raptors still managed to grind out the win despite a brutal 32 percent shooting night as a group.
For Cleveland, the loss was a missed opportunity to take a 3-1 series lead. Instead, Toronto protected home court and pushed the matchup back to even.
Mitchell and the Cavs will now look to respond in Game 5 on Wednesday, where they’ll try to regain control of the first-round series.
