Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell only went to the free-throw line twice in Game 1 against the Detroit Pistons.
After the Cleveland Cavaliers lost Game 1 of their second-round series to the Detroit Pistons, Donovan Mitchell told reporters that he's frustrated by the lack of foul calls in the 2026 playoffs thus far.
Mitchell only went to the free-throw line twice in Game 1 against the Pistons. The All-Star made 16 trips total during Cleveland's seven-game series against the Toronto Raptors in the first round.
"I'm just not getting the calls. I don't know why. I don't flop, maybe that's why," Mitchell said Tuesday. "And this isn't just a tonight thing. This has been the entire series, and it's frustrating a little bit, but because I'm such a dynamic driver, right? But I can't control that. So if they're not going to call it for me, I got to find a way to finish and do that."
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson was asked the same question about Mitchell not getting foul calls at his usual rate. Here is what he said.
'I'm just going to continue to plead with him to get to the paint, get to the rim. That's all you can do," Atkinson said. "That's all you control. You know, we just got to keep driving the ball. You meet aggressiveness with aggressiveness and then we got to make the right reads. So keep getting to the paint. It'll turn. It usually does with the free throws."
In Game 1 against the Pistons, the Cavaliers had 16 free throw attempts compared to 35 for the Pistons. Mitchell, though, was quick to point out that turnovers killed Cleveland.
"The free-throw disparity is not why we lost tonight," Mitchell said.
The Pistons forced 20 turnovers that led to 31 points in Game 1. James Harden committed seven turnovers and accepted blame for his poor play.
"You look within first," Harden said. "Look at my turnovers and a lot of them are just on me and nothing they did."
Mitchell also noted that a friend of his "got fined for talking about flopping." Mitchell did not specify the friend, but we know it's Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, who was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for public criticism of officiating during a recent livestream.
"I'm not going to try to double down, but I mean, like, I feel like that's what I got to do at this point. You know what I mean?" Mitchell said. "Like I'm trying to get downhill, trying to get to the bucket, and sometimes my people are in my way and I'm trying to fight through contact and I'm not getting these calls."
The Cavaliers will look to even their series against the Pistons in Game 2, which is on Thursday.
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