That was your best chance, Cleveland

[gratuitous]

The only guy in the building who thought the Cavs had the lead in the waning seconds of regulation had the ball in his hands. In overtime, the Warriors didn't mess around and Cleveland lost its composure.

Kevin Love is back, so maybe this series will extend to five games, but Golden State will win for the third time in four years against Cleveland, making that one year the Cavs won look more and more like a fluke.

[Botany]

1. tough to win 5 vs 7

Don't count your chickens.

[BeyondGeography]

2. You left out the thank you card that the Warriors owe the refs

Reversing that charge call was an absolute joke.

[applegrove]

3. Looked like James's feet were firmly planted to me.

Last edited Fri Jun 1, 2018, 02:17 AM - Edit history (1)

[BeyondGeography]

4. LeBron beat him to the spot

It was a judgment call; at that time of the game unless it’s a clear blunder you leave it be. Even the retired TV ref said it was a charge.

Anyway, huge turnaround there. GS likely doesn’t win without it.

[applegrove]

10. Yes. James moved his outside foot. Bent his knee. Not clear enough to

overturn the first call.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. I'm On The Opposite Side

The feet moving thing is not what the rules say. The rules require one to have established position.

One cannot jump in front of a moving player and land on two feet to initiate contact and then get away with a block because the feet were "planted". Doing that cannot result in a charging call.

Referees at every level are trained to watch for that, as the person already with forward momentum cannot be responsible for defying physics.

IMO, that was a block all the way. Even in slo-mo, there is less than second between when LeBron planted himself in the path and the contact. And regular slo-mo is 1/8th speed.

Less than 1/8th of a second is not establishing position.

[BeyondGeography]

13. My main problem is reviewing the call

It was a borderline/tough call. There’s a case either way and all claims to objectivity by fans in that situation are bogus. Steve Javie who knows more about that play than you and I put together said he would stick with the call. Other equally-informed people will say it was a block. I’ve been watching the game for 50 years, so I’m used to living with the call. Reviews should be kept to a minimum as in baseball. Out of bounds calls, yes, because they are much more easy to amend in a satisfactory manner. Fouls, no. What is the point of refs if you’re going to review that call? Why not review them all? Ie when Durant was clearly not hacked on a previous drive and got the whistle. Or any other call someone didn’t like.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. They HAD To Review The Call

Two referees made opposite calls. They guy on the wing, foul line extended called it a block. They guy baseline left called it a charge.

The refs had to confer no matter what.

I'm not nuts about "over reviewing" either, but when two officials completely contradict one another, there is no call to stick.

People keep saying (not meaning you but folks like Javie and others on TV) that the call was reversed. There was no call made, because the two officials called two different fouls.

The call was never actually made until after the review. Those saying they would have "let the call stand" are leaving out a critically important fact. There is no call until the referees agree on what the call is.

[BeyondGeography]

15. I haven't seen that reported anywhere

Thought they were reviewing because it was near the restricted area and that part of the play wasn’t even close.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Watch The Replay from the Long Camera at the Opposite End

I actually saw that replay during the game itself. When looking at that view, the guy at the 3 line, foul line extended, so far right of the TV screen is calling a block. At the same time, the who would be top left of the screen is calling a charge.

They are practically calling opposite fouls at the exact same time. One guy is 20 feet from the play, the other guy about 25. So, it's not like one ref had a much better view of it than the other. Those two refs CLEARLY disagreed completely on what they both just saw!

What cinched it for me is that in slo-mo, you cannot even count "one thousand" between the time James gets to the spot and the contact. If i were reffing, there is no way i would say that under an eighth of a second is establishing position. That's why i agree with the wing ref.

On Edit: That camera angle might have been from the NBATV post game show, but i think they just use the telecast footage, so it's really probably both.

[BeyondGeography]

17. If you're right then they're lying about why the call was reviewed

“The reason for the trigger is that we had doubt as to whether or not James was in the restricted area. When over at the table, we then are allowed to determine whether or not he was in a legal guarding position. It was determined he was out of the restricted area, but he was not in a legal guarding position prior to Durant’s separate shooting motion. So we had to change it to a blocking foul.”

https://sports.yahoo.com/cavaliers-anger-over-loss-turns-073343247.html

The indisputable result here is cynicism. Does anyone think that call would have been overturned in favor of an underdog road team? These situations will be extra fun when legal sports betting is up and running.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. Nice Catch!

Yeah, the sports betting thing i had not considered. (Not a gambler, so didn't even cross my mind.)

I do hear people who are pretty expert on this saying the NBA and NHL are less likely to be high volume prop bet sports becaue the action is too fluid. But, if they're wrong, then boy are you ever onto something!

BTW: There's a second angle where you can see the refs making the opposite calls. To Durant's left there is camera that is essentially a high angle from the lower left corner of the court aiming at what would be the scorer's desk if it were the other side of the court.

The wing ref is in the upper left and the end line ref is in the lower right. They are almost simultaneously making the call and one is doing the "hands on hips" and the other the "right hand on back of the head".

The explanation you posted might(!) not be a lie. The guy who called it charging might have made that decision, but when all the refs were together is when they all realized that 2 guys made opposing calls.

For all we know, if the guy who called the charge didn't decide to review, the other guy might have said they need to look at that because he saw exactly the opposite.

[gratuitous]

5. I see these replies, but all I read is . . .

"Whaaaa, whaaaa, whaaaa."

[BeyondGeography]

6. Oh, don't worry, your team will win

Just pray LeBron doesn’t end up in Houston.

[gratuitous]

7. Nah, the Blazers blew it out their collective ass

But the Warriors are as good as any of those Bulls or Lakers or Celtics teams people talk about as dynasties.

[BeyondGeography]

8. Different eras

The Warriors are in the conversation for sure. But I can say with assurance that none of those teams ever won a championship game because someone on the opposing team forgot what the score was.

[Iggo]

19. Well, not a championship, but still...

[BeyondGeography]

20. Good one...Poor Derek

Actually, that would be a good example for JR to point to, but now he's pretending he knew the score was tied so too late.

[Trust Buster]

9. The officiating was a joke. In addition to the ridiculous charging reversal, the Cavs stripped the

Ball on two occasions and were called for fouling on totally clean strips. The ejection of Tristan Thompson for a common foul was also a joke. Those three refs should not be involved for the balance of the final IMO.

[denbot]

11. As a life long Lakers fan, I stopped dismissing the GSW's well over a decade ago.

Be afraid, be very afraid of the Golden State Warriors any fucking time they play the Lakers, pre-season, mid-season, or any team during the conference finals, and most certainly the championship.

[lunasun]

21. Awesome and tense first game ! Can't wait for Sunday Go GSW

[jalan48]

22. The Warrior's style has made pro basketball watchable again.

LeBron moved into Durant as he was going to the basket, that's why the call was reversed.

[Awsi Dooger]

23. The Cavalier series victory was hardly a fluke

Talent level was much more comparable at that point. The 2016 series price was Golden State -210 (Bet 21 to win 10). This year it was -1200 (Bet 120 to win 10).

Golden State won by 10 in overtime yet did not cover the 12 point spread. That's how lopsided this series is considered.