NBA FINALS GAME ONE: CAVS ONLY HAVE THEMSELVES TO BLAME

Plus, a breakdown of “The Reversal” and the Tristan Thompson Ejection[1]

Wow…what an interesting Game One.  We saw a competitive first half, an exciting third-quarter burst by the Warriors, and an equally-exciting fourth-quarter burst by LeBron James the Cavaliers, but the final minute overshadowed EVERYTHING else.  A three-point play by James put the Cavs ahead, 104-102, with 50.4 seconds remaining.  As the clock dropped below 40 seconds, Warriors forward Kevin Durant drove toward the basket.  James darted into his path to defend the imminent shot.  Durant and James collided.  Both hit the deck.  Two of the three game officials blew their whistles.  The trailing official signaled a block on James, while the lead official signaled a charge on Durant.  After a brief discussion, the crew went with the lead official’s call that it was a charge, giving Cleveland the ball with 36.4 seconds left.

However, the three officials on the floor weren’t sure that James was entirely outside the restricted area, so they looked at the replay to make sure.  An overhead view of the play clearly revealed that James was outside the arc, but it also revealed that James was not in a legal guarding position when the collision occurred, so the charge was reversed to a block, giving Durant two free throws.  He sank both, tying the game at 104.  After a timeout, James buried a layup with 32.1 seconds left to put the Cavs back on top, 106-104.  Curry sank a running layup with 23.5 seconds left to tie the game.  On the play, he was fouled by Kevin Love, and Curry sank the ensuing free throw to give the Warriors a 107-106 lead, but the Cavs had the final shot.  Golden State’s Klay Thompson fouled Cleveland’s George Hill with 4.7 seconds left, putting Hill on the line for two shots and a chance to give the lead back to the Cavs.  He made the first but missed the second.  Cleveland’s J.R. Smith grabbed the offensive rebound, but instead of attempting a put-back shot, he dribbled the ball out near midcourt.  He realized his error, but not in time for him or any teammates to attempt another shot before the buzzer sounded.

The Warriors ran away with the game in overtime.  As overtime ended, the game got interesting again, though.  It all started when James blocked a layup attempt by Steph Curry with 34.1 seconds left and the Warriors up by 11.  As the Cavs hustled to the other end, Curry and James exchanged words.  Klay Thompson separated the two as J.R. Smith drained a three-pointer to cut the lead to eight.  Golden State inbounded with 27.2 seconds left, meaning they’d have to shoot before the game ended.  Shaun Livingston did shortly before the shot clock expired and was fouled by Tristan Thompson.  Referee Tony Brothers ejected Thompson, ruling that he had thrown an elbow at Livingston’s head.  Thompson did not leave the floor immediately, though, and while he was lingering and protesting, Draymond Green clapped his hands in close proximity to him.  Thompson then shoved the ball into Green’s face.  Their teammates, fortunately, separated them before any further incident.

Whew!  Now that the story has been told…

Before I even address whether the officials were correct on what has become known as The Reversal…the Cavs only have themselves to blame for the loss.  They had chance after chance to win the game.  Remember…there were still 36.4 seconds left when Durant’s free throws tied the game, and the Cavs had the ball with a chance at a two-for-one.[2]  They got it, since James put the Cavs ahead by two with a layup and 32.1 seconds left.  Did Cleveland take advantage?  Yes, at first, since the Warriors could not make a shot quickly enough to avoid the two-for-one.  But…Kevin Love fouled Curry on his layup.  Oops.  No biggie to the Cavs…they had the final shot of the period with a one-point deficit.  George Hill – an 80% free throw shooter – ended up on the line, down one, with 4.7 seconds left.  Did he make both?  Nope.  Made the first to tie the game and then missed the second.  Yet the Cavs STILL had another chance, because Smith grabbed the offensive rebound.  THEN HE DRIBBLED AWAY FROM THE BASKET AND FAILED TO SHOOT.  What if he had made the putback at the buzzer?  What if he had missed the putback but been fouled?  What if he had passed to a teammate who then did either one?  There are so many possibilities.  Smith’s mental error alone did more damage to the Cavs’ chances than The Reversal did.

Now…The Reversal.  Were the officials correct?  Yes, and the league has confirmed it several times.  Before I proceed, I must qualify myself.  I officiated high school basketball for seven years and got to know the rules very well.[3]  Continuing…the officials reviewed the play because they were unsure as to whether James was in the “restricted area” near the basket, which they may do in the final two minutes.  One criticism I heard was “James was nearly two feet outside of it.  They never should have reviewed it.”  Oh, really?  TV replays were from a bird’s eye view.  Were any replays taken from an official’s perspective on the floor?  No, and, according to an article by Kevin Arnovitz for ESPN, the confusion came from the fact that LeBron was a secondary defender who collided with the on-ball defender, Jeff Green, whose toe hit the line of the restricted area shortly after contact.  Arnovitz aptly described the play as “a tangle of legs and feet” when viewed by the officials “in real time.”  While viewing the replay, the officials saw the bird’s-eye view and quickly saw that James was clearly not inside the restricted area.

Since the replay was on the screen, the officials were, by rule, allowed to take a deep look at the play and determine whether it was a block or a charge.  Block/charge is one of the most misunderstood rules in all of basketball – nay, in all of SPORTS.  The most common misconception is that a defender must be completely still (or “be set”) before contact occurs for the play to be a charge.  However, the text of the NBA rule (Rule 12-B-II-a) is, “A dribbler shall not (1) charge into an opponent who has established a legal guarding position….”  Well, what is a legal guarding position?  A legal guarding position means facing the opponent with both feet on the floor.  The rule says nothing about being set.  In fact, in the Comments on the Rules found at the end of the book, it says in II-A-2, “A player may continue to move after gaining a guarding position in the path of an opponent provided he is not moving directly or obliquely[4] toward his opponent when contact occurs.”  The replay showed that James was moving toward Durant when contact occurred, so the play was a block, and Durant was awarded two free throws.

I disagreed with the Tristan Thompson ejection, but I understand why it was done.  From Tony Brothers’ position on the floor, it certainly looked like Thompson was attempting to elbow Livingston in the head as Livingston was shooting.  Another angle showed that Thompson was not.  So why did the officials eject him anyway after looking at the replays?  I have a theory.  When Thompson hit Green with the ball, that certainly deserved ejection.  My guess is that it was easier for the officials to uphold the original call than it would have been to say, “He shouldn’t have been ejected for the foul call, but his conduct afterward warranted ejection, so we’re not ejecting him for the foul, but we’re ejecting him for hitting Green with the ball.[5]

This will certainly go down as one of the more memorable opening games in the history of the NBA Finals.  I’m glad.  Honestly, I was wondering if I’d watch ANY game of this series, given that it’s the same two teams for the fourth consecutive year.  Now?  I’m hooked.[6]

Sunday, June 3, 2018, 11:58 pm MST

[1] I finally got to watch the entire game yesterday – thank you, Watch ESPN Archives – but I saw the block/charge reversal minutes after the game ended.

[2] A two-for-one is a time situation where Team A makes a shot quickly enough that Team B could shoot as the shot clock expires Team A could grab the rebound and still have enough time to put up a decent shot before the end of the period.

[3] Some of my evaluators didn’t care for my speed or judgment, but none of them disputed my rule knowledge.

[4] Obliquely means “at an angle.”

[5] ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy asked on-the-air why the officials didn’t just end the game and avoid the entire situation since there were less than three seconds left in a game whose outcome was no longer in question.  He makes a good point.  NBA officials should be given that option.  The NHL and FIFA permit their referees to do that in similar situations.

[6] And now that I’m done writing this, I can go watch Game Two.  Thanks again, Watch ESPN Archive…