The final score of an NBA game is usually the last word, but in a rare move that has basketball fans talking, the league itself has stepped in to rewrite a small piece of history from a game that already seemed finished. The NBA officially announced that a scoring error was made during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ dominant victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

The league stated, “With 8:15 remaining in the second quarter, Tre Johnson’s (WAS) first free throw attempt was incorrectly entered as a missed free throw, when in fact he made both.” This admission came more than twelve hours after the game concluded at Capital One Arena. Because of this mistake, the final score has been officially changed. The scoreboard originally showed a 148-114 win for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The corrected and now official final score is Cleveland 148, Washington 115.

This is not the first time the NBA has had to issue a post-game stat correction. On October 25, 2024, a similar error occurred in a game between the Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers. A free throw by De’Anthony Melton was misrecorded, leading to a one-point change in the final score the following day. Such corrections remain rare given the volume of data tracked each game.

Now, though, for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the correction does not change their win, which improved their NBA Cup record to 1-1, but it is a correction in the right step, as point differential is a key tiebreaker used to decide which teams advance to the knockout rounds.

Donovan Mitchell led the team with 24 points in the contest. The Washington Wizards, who were led by CJ McCollum’s 25 points, fell to 0-1 in group play. The focus now shifts to whether that one point will have any bearing on the tight East Group A standings as the tournament progresses. The league’s unusual announcement quickly sparked a wave of reactions from basketball fans online.

Fans Outraged After Scoring Error Sparks Calls for NBA Accountability

Many expressed deep frustration over the error, calling for systemic changes. One comment read, “If ya don’t start a lawsuit with the NBA now, we will forever deal with this nonsense. We need a 3rd-party stat verifier. Tre Johnson having 18pts instead of 19 is just straight playing in our faces.” There’s a growing desire for independent oversight beyond the NBA’s official scorers and the Elias Sports Bureau, especially with the NBA Cup’s point-differential tiebreaker adding competitive stakes to every single point.

One of the most interesting and common sentiments was: “Now what if Cleveland won the game 115-114? Would they have to play a ot quarter makeup game?? Or what since the score would have been 115-115.”  Go back in time and play OT? Well, that would have been tricky, and the league might not have faced such a situation in a long, long time.

Other fans focused on the human element of the mistake, specifically for the young player involved. Another comment pointed out, “While we’re on this topic… Tre Johnson, shown on video, hit both of his free throws, yet statisticians said he went 1-2 on the line. What is happening? … 19-year-old kid and was an 87% free-throw shooter in college. I know if he knew about this, he’d be upset.”

This observation connects the official error to Johnson’s proven proficiency, as he was indeed an 87% free-throw shooter at Texas. The reference to video evidence underscores that the correction was not a judgment call but a simple data-entry failure, contradicting visual proof. Further observations highlighted a pattern of recent errors and the potential consequences.

“10 days ago, Sarr scored two free throws, and they write it to Tre Johnson. After 24 hours, they corrected the mistake. But, definitely too many mistakes,” the comment read. This recalls a previous incident where points were misattributed between Wizards teammates, suggesting a concerning trend in official scoring for their games. Officiating errors aren’t just an NBA thing. This past season, the whole of WNBA rose together complaining how the league is suffering due to poor errors, and the NBA surely would wish to course correct before it is too late, like in the WNBA.

Another fan reacted with raw emotion, writing, “Yeah I’m f—ing done man… Sh-ts f—ed up when I lose I lose but don’t cheat me out a win especially when we got the world on it … That’s bullsh-t.” This anger reflects broader concerns about the integrity of the official record in an era where sports betting is widespread and fans feel a direct, sometimes financial, connection to game statistics.