Donovan Mitchell's historic night, as per the NBA's rulebook, should've ended at a less historical (albeit still undeniably impressive) 56 points.
According to a last-two-minute report from Monday night's game against the Chicago Bulls, Mitchell committed a lane-violation on the game-tying basket to send the contest to overtime.
After missing his second free throw off the back of the rim, Mitchell sped to the basket to collect his own rebound and put it back in. However, he stepped over the plane of the free throw line before the ball had time to make contact with the rim, which should have resulted in the play being called back and Chicago receiving the ball.
Instead, the basket counted, Mitchell broke the Cavaliers scoring record with his 57th and 58th points of the night, sent the game into overtime, and scored 13 more points in the extra period to put on one of the most memorable scoring performances the league has seen in recent years.
The game ended 145-134 in favour of the Cavaliers, as Mitchell's overwhelming output led Cleveland to a 15-4 rout in overtime.
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan spoke about the missed call on the lane violation in his press conference after the game, bringing into question why it wasn't reviewed.
"It's two things, one, it's a clear violation. Unequivocally he's crossing the line on the basket before the ball even touches the rim," Donovan said in the Bulls' post-game press conference according to The Athletic's Darnell Mayberry.
"And he just shot it and really kind of beat Patrick (Williams). And I think part of the reason why he beat Patrick is because he went in there too early."
According to Monday's last-two-minute report, the officials also missed a travelling call on Cavaliers centre Jarrett Allen on a scoring play with 12.1 seconds remaining. That bucket made it a 128-127 game, inching the Cavaliers closer to the controversial tying basket.
The Bulls haven't had late-game calls go their way as of late and the L2M reports have confirmed their grievances. In their 103-102 loss on Saturday in the first leg of their mini-series, DeMar DeRozan was fouled on the Bulls' final shot. Chicago now sits in 11th place, outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference with a 16-21 record.
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