NBA Breaks Silence on Controversial Finish to Kings-Cavaliers Game

The NBA released a report on a potential missed violation at the end of the Sacramento Kings' win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Apr 6, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine (8) drives to the basket against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Rocket Arena. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Sacramento Kings have won back-to-back games for the first time since mid-March after taking down the Cleveland Cavaliers by a score of 120-113 on Sunday evening.

The Kings were carried to victory by a 37-point performance from shooting guard Zach LaVine along with 28 and 27-point performances from forward DeMar DeRozan and center Domantas Sabonis, respectively.

LaVine now has five 30-point performances in a Kings jersey in just 28 games. Sacramento's go-to guy scored a couple late buckets, but one drew attention to viewers as a possible missed shot clock violation.

With just under a minute on the clock, LaVine drove to the rim with time running out on the shot clock. As he attempted his layup, the ball was still in his hand with zero seconds on the clock. The refs did not review the play, leading to two points for Sacramento and a 118-111 lead with 46 seconds remaining.

Ball in Lavine’s hand when shot clock expired. Basket ruled good. 😱 pic.twitter.com/DbNWdtnNgM

— McNeil (@Reflog_18) April 7, 2025

The officials reviewed the play after the game and released a statement on the missed call.

"Well, we made a mistake," said NBA crew chief Courtney Kirkland. "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.

The quick throw-in led to no time for review, according to Kirkland. Had the call been made, the Cavaliers would have had the chance to cut the lead to one score with plenty of time left on the clock.

Regardless, the Kings secured the win and moved to 38-40 on the season. They now sit in 9th place in the Western Conference and are just half a game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks.