The Cavaliers are on the doorstep of the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, but they’ll have to wait to lock down the top spot in the bracket, as they fell to the Sacramento Kings 120-113 Sunday at Rocket Arena.
The Cavs’ magic number to clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference remains at one. A win over the Kings or a Boston Celtics loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday would have given Cleveland home-court advantage through at least the Eastern Conference Finals, should they advance that far, but the Celtics won to keep their chances of stealing the top seed from the Cavs alive.
The Cavs already know the four teams that will make up the NBA’s Play-In Tournament, one of which will be their first opponent in the playoffs.
Tipoff for Cavs (62-15) versus Kings (37-40) occurred at 6:10 p.m. Sunday. Here’s how the game unfolded.
NBA refs acknowledged mistake in Cavs-Kings game on Zach LaVine basket
The officiating crew has acknowledged a mistake made during the Cavs-Kings game, specifically a Zach LaVine bucket that didn’t appear to be made before the shot clock had expired.
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“Well, we made a mistake,” crew chief Courtney Kirkland told a pool reporter in Cleveland. “During live action we thought that LaVine released the ball prior to the expiration of the shot clock. If we were going to review, we would have had to review it before the ball was legally touched on the floor during the throw in, right after the made basket.”
Cavaliers fall to Kings
The Cavs couldn’t hit a 3 in the final seconds, and they lost to the Kings 120-113.
The Cavs actually fired four 3-pointers thanks to a trio of offensive rebounds, but none of them fell. The fourth 3-point attempt, from Donovan Mitchell, was waived off, as it was ruled he stepped out of bounds. The original call was that he was fouled and headed to the line, but the turnover virtually ended the game.
It’s possible the Cavs could seek an answer from the league regarding LaVine’s layup that appeared to have been a shot-clock violation late in the fourth quarter.
LaVine finished with a game-high 37 points.
The loss also means these Cavs won’t have a chance to set the franchise record for wins in a single regular season.
Domantas Sabonis stats vs Cavs
Kings center Domantas Sabonis had a big game, too, for the Kings. He totaled 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Cavs trail Kings by 5 in final minute
Darius Garland missed a floater and Max Struss couldn’t hit a 3 before Zach LaVine got a layup to fall just as the shot clock expired — though replays suggest he might not have gotten it off in time — and the Kings have opened up a 118-113 lead with 25.9 seconds left.
Cavs, Kings score: Cleveland trails by 2 late in fourth quarter
DeMar DeRozan drilled a 3 to give him 28 points, and the Kings are holding onto a 113-111 lead with two minutes to go.
The Kings have had a 3-headed monster today with DeRozan’s 27, Zach LaVine’s 35 and Domantas Sabonis’ 27.
Ty Jerome has 10 points midway through fourth quarter; Cavs, Kings score update
Ty Jerome is on fire in the fourth quarter, but the Kings’ sharp-shooting as Sacramento on top 105-101 midway through the fourth quarter.
Jerome has 10 points in the fourth quarter alone and 20 over the night in his return to the lineup. Every time the Cavs recapture the lead for a moment, the Kings have nailed a 3 in response.
And for any scoreboard watchers, the Celtics won today, so the Cavs will have to win to secure the No. 1 seed.
Donovan Mitchell scores 5 points in 10 seconds; Cavs climbing back vs Kings in fourth quarter
Donovan Mitchell gave the Cavs a score in the third, but he’s taking over in the fourth.
Mitchell scored five points in the span of 10 seconds of game clock. Mitchell had a layup fall through contact, then stole the ball and quickly put back another layup while drawing a foul and hitting the ensuing free throw.
Mitchell also just found Evan Mobley on the other end of an alley-oop, and the Cavs have cut the Kings lead to 93-91 with 9:16 left in the fourth quarter.
Cavs trail Kings 91-79 at the end of the third quarter
The Cavs were behind the Kings 91-79 at the end of the third quarter. The Cavs were outscored 35-22 during the quarter in which All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell suffered a left ankle injury, left the game and later returned.
Forward DeMar DeRozan and guard Zach LaVine scored 11 points apiece for the Kings in the third quarter. LaVine has 26 points, Kings center Domantas Sabonis 25 points and DeRozan 19 points.
Despite missing a chunk of the third quarter, Mitchell leads the Cavs with 14 points.
Donovan Mitchell returns to the game with Cavs trailing Kings with 3:02 left in the third quarter
With 3:02 left in the third quarter and the Cavs behind 79-75, Mitchell returned to the game despite suffering a left ankle injury earlier in the same quarter.
Cavaliers news: Donovan Mitchell gives Cleveland Cavs an injury scare, leaves game vs Kings but returns
Cavs lead Kings 73-72 with 4:29 left in the third quarter. Donovan Mitchell is listed as probable to return
The Cavs led the Kings 73-72 during a Sacramento challenge with 4:29 left in the third quarter.
The Kings won the challenge, keeping center Domantas Sabonis from picking up his fourth foul of the game, a would-be offensive against Cavs center Jarrett Allen.
During the stoppage, the Cavs announced what should represent a huge relief for the team: Mitchell is probable to return with a left ankle injury (see more below).
Donovan Mitchell leaves game with 9:54 left in the third quarter with injury
Mitchell made a layup with 10:08 left in the third quarter. As he ran down the court to play defense, he appeared to stumble near Kings guard Keon Ellis and went down on the sideline in obvious pain.
Medical personnel tended to Mitchell, and he limped to the locker room with the Cavs ahead 62-56.
Keon Ellis hits half-court shot; Cavs lead Kings at halftime
The Cavs will take a 57-56 lead into halftime, but Keon Ellis has the highlight of the day so far.
As time expired on the second quarter, Keon Ellis heaved up a half-court shot that banked in as the buzzer sounded, making it a one-point score.
For the Cavs, Donovan Mitchell has a team-high 12 points with three rebounds and one assist.
Isaac Okoro, Cavs lead Kings in second quarter: Score update
Isaac Okoro has again made a major impact and has helped the Cavs to a 45-39 lead with 5:21 left in the second quarter.
Okoro hit a 3 and then grabbed an offensive rebound the next time down the floor, which he followed with a put-back layup. Okoro has seven points and two rebounds in six minutes off the bench.
Cavs, Kings tied in second quarter
The Cavs and Kings are deadlocked 33-33 with 8:50 left in the second quarter.
Ty Jerome, in his return, has made his presence felt with an alley-oop lob to Evan Mobley and then a nice basket he got to fall through contact. In 10 minutes, Jerome has six points, four rebounds and two assists.
Cleveland Cavs trail Sacramento Kings 31-27 at the end of the first quarter
The Cavs were behind the Kings 31-27 when the first quarter ended.
Kings center Domantas Sabonis dominated the first quarter, scoring 15 points.
Guard Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs in the opening quarter with eight points.
The Cavs went 11-of-25 shooting (44%) from the floor (2 of 12 on 3-pointers, 16.7%).
The Kings went 12-of-24 shooting (50%) from the floor (3 of 11 on 3-pointers, 27.3%).
Sacramento Kings lead Cleveland Cavaliers 28-23 with 2:28 left in the first quarter as Domantas Sabonis dominates
Sabonis is putting on a clinic in the first quarter.
With 3:20 left in the first quarter, Sabonis produced a three-point play against Cavs forward Evan Mobley, who had just missed two free throws at the other end of the floor with 3:34 remaining.
Then Sabonis stole the ball from Cavs guard Ty Jerome and parlayed the turnover into a coast-to-coast layup, giving the Kings a 28-23 lead with 3:01 left. The Kings led by the same score during a timeout.
At this juncture, Sabonis had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
Cavs lead Kings 16-15 with 7:03 left in the first quarter
The Cavs led the Kings 16-15 when they called a timeout with 7:03 left in the first quarter.
A 3-pointer by Kings guard Zach LaVine cut Cleveland’s lead to a point and prompted the timeout.
Sabonis gave the Cavs the most trouble out of the gate, though. He had seven points in roughly the first five minutes of the game.
Cavs center Jarrett Allen picked up two fouls early, including one on a call with which he clearly disagreed. Sabonis used an elbow to essentially hook Allen en route to a three-point play with 7:57 left in the first quarter, but the officials ruled Allen had fouled Sabonis.
Mitchell had six points at this early stage, despite missing two of his first five free throws.
Below is some pregame information.
Cavs injury report vs Kings
Guard Ty Jerome (knee) is expected to play Sunday against the Kings, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. Jerome has missed the last five games. The Cavs have been hopeful that Jerome would be able to return to the floor before the playoffs started.
Forward Dean Wade is also available after being sidelined with an illness.
Cleveland Cavaliers broadcast information. How can I watch on TV, listen on radio or stream the Cavs vs Kings game?
Sunday’s game can be watched nationally on NBA TV and locally on the FanDuel Sports Network. It can be heard on the radio via WMMS (100.7-FM) and WTAM (1100-AM).
