Inexcusable calls from referees lead to Mavericks' loss to Cavaliers

The Dallas Mavericks went into Tuesday night's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers coming off a loss to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night.

Dallas had won seven games in a row before that, but couldn't come all the way back in the fourth quarter.

The Mavs came out with a fire against the Cavs to start the game, but couldn't hold on down the stretch. Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving put on a show, as the duo combined for 75 points, but the story of the night comes in the fourth quarter.

Inexcusable calls from referees lead to Mavericks' loss to Cavaliers

Dallas and the Cavs played a wild back-and-forth fourth quarter, and the referees missed a handful of calls down the stretch. The craziness started on an inbounds violation on Irving. Tim Hardaway Jr. threw him the ball, and as Irving stepped to the out-of-bounds line to the official, they said that the ball was already inbounded and that it would be a turnover.

From that moment on, more bad calls plagued the Mavs. This includes a questionable offensive foul on Irving, a no-call on a Josh Green corner 3-pointer, a no-call on a Cleveland moving screen, and the refs not calling a jump ball when Green was tied up with a Cavs player at half court.

The refs seemed to be making favorable calls for the Cavs down the stretch, but Cleveland sharpshooter Max Strus put the team on his back as he shot 7/10 from downtown and finished with 21 points.

Strus' shot at the buzzer is what everyone will remember from this game, as he sunk it from beyond half court to give the Cavs a 121-119 win over Dallas. This was a heartbreaking loss for Dallas, and they couldn't get any calls to go their way in the fourth quarter.

P.J. Washington exited his slump in this game, as he finished with 11 points on 5-8 shooting. He also made the go-ahead bucket for Dallas before the Strus shot at the buzzer, and there could have been a foul called on it as there was plenty of contact.

Dallas' next game is tomorrow night against the Toronto Raptors.

For all the latest on Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks this season, stay tuned.