Cavs endure controversial timeout late, eight-game win streak snapped
An official called a timeout for personnel who could not call it for the Cavaliers, but how did this happen in the first place?
The Cleveland Cavaliers' eight-game winning streak came to an end Saturday night in a 108-105 double overtime loss to the Bucks in Milwaukee. The Cavs played lethargic and trailed for most of the game before a very late push to force overtime, something they've made a habit of this season. The Cavaliers can blame their own poor execution and shooting; truth be told this one had been coming for a while given their performance against several mediocre Eastern Conference teams.
However, even this one wasn't without controversy.
Bucks guard Jerryd Bayless was blocked by LeBron James on a monster rejection at around the eight-second mark and the Cavaliers secured the rebound. Huge play. However, once the official called timeout, there was confusion and consternation from LeBron James and David Blatt. Watch the sequence.
So what happened? The NBA allowed a pool reporter to speak with the official who called timeout, Marc Davis, after the game:
Question 1: Which referee blew the whistle with 7.4 seconds remaining in the first overtime and what was his reason to do so?
Davis: I blew the whistle with 7.4 seconds because I was in my action refereeing the play and off to the side I heard Cleveland’s bench ask for a timeout. I granted them the timeout at which I looked at the Head Coach David Blatt and realized that he hadn’t asked for the timeout. Made an inadvertent whistle which allowed the offensive team to call a timeout, and in fact they wanted a timeout and asked for a timeout.
Now go back and watch just the bench during James' block on Bayless:
There's Kevin Love, Mo Williams, and several assistants calling timeout, while David Blatt stands there blithely, because there's not supposed to be a timeout.
So that's not ideal. Davis winds up taking the blame for this, and he should. Only the on-court players or head coach can call the timeout in that situation. But there are some questions, though. First off, Blatt is clearly the one to determine that the Cavs would run if they got a stop. Here's James' version of events, as well as what Blatt said about the situation:
"Coach said if we get a stop, then go ahead and go, because they might expect us to call a timeout," James explained. "We got a stop, Delly [Matthew Dellavedova] got the board, outletted to me and I had a full steam, and we had an inadvertent whistle, so I'm guessing that they heard someone call timeout. But the rules, I know the rules, and only the head coach can call a timeout, and Coach Blatt didn't call a timeout, so, you know, it's over and done with now."
Blatt detailed the instructions he gave his team should Milwaukee fail to score on its possession that started with 13.8 seconds remaining in the first overtime and just five seconds remaining on the shot clock.
"The plan was expecting they would probably relax a little bit; we had decided to push it and we didn't get that chance, unfortunately," Blatt said. "Look, we all make mistakes, but that's a bad mistake."
So, Blatt throws Davis under the bus there, and that's fine; again, it's Davis' job to be aware of who is calling the timeout.
However ... why are the other Cavs people calling timeout? Why are Kevin Love, Mo Williams, and multiple assistants calling for a timeout -- which they can't get -- after Blatt has specifically told the team they're not going to call for one? Were they not informed of that plan? If they were not, shouldn't Blatt -- or someone -- have made them aware? It's not like what Davis did was inconceivable. You see and hear five people on the Cavaliers' sideline yelling for timeout, you probably assume the team wants one.
This isn't exactly the first time Blatt has had problems with timeouts, either.
And of course this dandy from the playoffs:
So either the Cavaliers' bench wasn't aware of the decision to run after the stop, and since they don't need to know, they weren't told, or they simply got caught up in the heat of the moment and tried to call timeout anyway.
At the end of it, the Cavaliers had dozens of opportunities to win a game they should win, and they lost on a back to back, their fourth contest in five nights on the road. The blame falls on the official for granting a timeout requested by personnel who cannot ask for one, and everyone moves on.
The Cavaliers have been very well coached this year, so you don't want to make this part of a larger narrative about Blatt. It is weird, however, that he instructed his team to do one thing, and they still couldn't execute it. It's another in a long line of confusing key moments during Blatt's tenure, even if this one was is in no way his fault.
