If anyone needed a visual representation of where the Dallas Mavericks are going in the 2025-26 NBA season, they just provided that during Friday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
With the Mavericks behind by 22 points with a little over two minutes left in the third quarter, Dallas forward Caleb Martin inbounded the ball from the side of the Cavaliers to guard Brandon Williams.
As Williams crossed the half-court line, the game was stopped because it was supposed to be Cleveland’s possession. The refs had simply given the wrong team the ball, and neither the Mavs nor the Cavs realized what was happening until play was halted.
Here’s a video of what happened.
The refs gave the ball to the WRONG team… who then attacked the WRONG basket 😭 pic.twitter.com/Yc6VfT3IvL
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) March 14, 2026
The refs were able to sort things out after some confusion, and the seconds lost were restored, so play resumed smoothly after that head-scratching blunder.
Perhaps Cleveland can be forgiven for not realizing right away that it should have been its ball, given the size of the Cavaliers’ lead. Dallas should have been on top of it though, as every possession mattered more to the Mavericks than the Cavaliers, who dominated the home team from start to finish.
The Cavaliers can just laugh about it, as they came away with an easy 138-105 victory, while the Mavericks suffered their ninth loss in 10 games.
