NBA Missed Draymond Green Lane Violation, Defends LeBron James Blocking Call
The NBA had a lot to sort through in its Last Two Minute Report following Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.
According to the report, the referee crew was allowed to go to the monitor to review a late charge call involving LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Not only did the report make it clear that the crew was not certain James was outside of the restricted circle, but it also noted that the referees made the right call to overturn Durant's charge and issue a blocking foul to James instead.
"The crew was not reasonably certain whether James (CLE) was in the restricted area after an offensive foul was called against Durant (GSW). Upon replay review, it was confirmed that James was outside the restricted area. The referees also reviewed whether James was in a legal guarding position, which is an additional reviewable matter for this replay trigger. Replay showed James was not in a legal guarding position because he was turning his body and moving into Durant when contact occurred. Thus the initial call on the floor was overturned and James was assessed a blocking foul."
Also, the league pointed out that Golden State forward Draymond Green should have been called for a lane violation on Cleveland point guard George Hill's second free-throw attempt with 4.7 seconds to play in regulation.
Hill missed the shot, which could've put his team ahead by one point. As Rick Noland of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram tweeted, the league deemed Green's violation "incidental or immaterial."
Of course, this L2M report will do nothing for Cleveland fans.
Outside of Hill's missed free throw and JR Smith's ensuing boneheaded decision, the Durant-James foul was the biggest talking point of the night. The Cavaliers went from potentially having the ball with a two-point lead and 36.4 seconds to play to watching the Warriors tie the game up with a pair of free throws.
And while some Cavs fans may be willing to accept the argument that James was not in legal guarding position, the reasoning behind the trigger for replay may be tough to swallow. The L2M report states that the referees were not sure if James was in the restricted area, but as Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com points out, there wasn't any question.
NBA Senior vice president of replay and referee operations Joe Borgia broke down the controversial reversal on Thursday after the game.
As if there wasn't enough salt in the wound, the Cavaliers have to accept the fact that the officials missed a lane violation on what could have been the game-winning free throw.
It was obvious during the postgame press conferences that James, Ty Lue and Co. were not pleased with the officiating in Game 1. Now, they will have to put that loss and the L2M report behind them as they prepare for Sunday night's Game 2.
